OF  THE 
SERVICE 


IF* 


FREDERICK  PALMER 


/  *+  % '   A* 


THE  WAYS  OF  THE 
SERVICE 


IHflf.  OF  CALIF.  LIBRARY.  LOS  ANGCLE* 


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THE  WAYS 
OF  THE  SERVICE 


FREDERICK    PALMER 


Illustrated  by 
HOWARD  CHANDLER  CHRISTY 


CHARLES  SCRBNER'S  SONS 
NEW  YORK      s    s    i    :    s    t    t    1901 


COPYRIGHT,  1900,  1901,  BY 
FREDERICK    PALMER 


A II  rights  reserved 


The  illustrations  by  Howard  Chandler 
Christy  are  copyrighted  by  P.  F.  Collier 
&  Son  (Collier's  Weekly)  and  are  printed 
by  their  permission. 


TROW  DIRECTORY 

PRINTING  AND  BOOKBINDING  COMPANY 
HEW  YORK 


"Never  mind!    Whatever  they  are, 

they  are  our  ways— the  ways  of  the  Service 
—and  dear  to  us."— MRS.  GERLISON. 


2132122 


CONTENTS 

Page 

Ballard  .............       / 


Romance  of  Private  Sounders    ....  101 

As  Man  to  Man      .........  ijj 

A  Battle  and  a  Barrel    .......  153 

Against  His  Own  People   .......  /<£/ 

Marrying  Out  of  the  Army     ......  211 

^ke  Naming  of  the  Captain    ......  237 

Mrs.  Gerlisoris  Own  Story  .......  271 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

"  Pm  going  to  quarters   and  give  myself  up, 

now  " Frontispiece 

Pagt 

"  It  is  always  that  way  with  you  white  men"  she 

cried j8 

He    held   to    his    determination     .      .     .     until   he 

looked  into  her  eyes 108 

"  Save  yourself!     It's    all   right  for    me,    I  must 

stay" 150 

In  his  outburst  of  wrath  he  thrust  at  the  screen    .  232 

"  Go    into    the    Sergeant's    office !      You    are    under 

arrest" 258 


BALLARD 


BALLARD 


HIS  usual  luck !  Such  was  the  conclusion  of 
the  steerage  mess  of  the  flag-ship,  assem- 
bled at  tiffin.  They  nodded  toward  the  vacant 
chair,  while  the  uproar  of  their  talk  drowned  the 
whir  of  the  electric  fans  which  were  officially  sup- 
posed to  beat  some  life  into  the  air  of  Manila  Bay 
in  May.  The  Chinese  steward,  coming  and  going 
with  dishes,  wondered  if  "  Mlista  Bailie-Bailie  "  had 
been  made  "  Plesiden'  Lunitee  Statee,"  or — what 
was  much  greater — "  Admilal." 

"  But  how  can  he  sail  away  and  leave  Margaret 
Carson  to  all  those  army  officers  at  this  critical 
juncture?  "  asked  Byers. 

"  True,"  said  Gilligan.  "  We'll  have  a  rise  out  of 
him  about  that." 

As  he  spoke,  Ballard  himself  entered  the  room. 

"  We  know  you've  got  the  Avispa.  We  know 
that  you're  a  big  man  now,"  Gilligan  continued. 
"  But  the  great  thing  is,  have  you  got  the  girl?  " 

3 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

Ballard  flushed  and  hesitated.  It  seemed,  how- 
ever, that  his  joy  was  too  great  to  be  concealed. 

"  Yes,  I  have,"  he  said.  "  She  spoke  the  word 
last  night  and  her  mother  is  going  to  announce  it 
to-day.  Congratulate  me !  " 

There  was  a  glance  of  understanding  followed  by 
a  shout  as  he  took  his  seat. 

"  The  Army  and  Navy  unite !  A  single  service ! 
Hooray!" 

"  We'll  fight  in  rubber  boots  at  sea  and  battle- 
ships on  land ! " 

"  Bubby  and  Margy !  It's  hard  to  make  a 
rhyme ! " 

"  We'll  give  you  six  months  to " 

Ballard  sprang  to  his  feet. 

"  It  isn't  a  thing  to  be  bandied  about  in  that 
way !  "  he  retorted,  angrily.  "  It  isn't  going  to  be 
broken  off !  I  won't  stand  such  talk  I  " 

Whereupon  the  steerage,  rising,  repeated,  in 
deep  voices,  their  well-known  corrective : 

"  How  sad  !     How  awful  sad ! 
The  little  man  is  mad  !  " 

Ballard  started  to  leave  the  room.     Gilligan  ar- 
resting him  with  a  word,  hastened  to  his  side. 
"  Oh,  come,"  he  said,  "  you  didn't  enter  the  navy 
4 


BALLARD 

yesterday.  Did  you  expect  us  to  pass  you  in  re- 
view and  bow  solemnly  when  you've  got  the  finest 
girl  in  Manila  and  the  Avispa  in  the  same  windfall? 
Especially  as  you  beat  the  army  and  " — this  with 
a  laugh  and  a  slap — "  as  you  worked  so  hard  for 
her." 

Ballard  smiled  dutifully  and  returned  to  that 
compound — frizzled  beef  and  eggs — by  means  of 
which  the  navy  maintains  the  influence  of  the 
United  States  in  tropical  waters. 

"  Anyway,"  he  said,  grudgingly,  "  it's  a  long  time 
since  you've  had  one  on  me." 

For  the  ways  of  the  mess  entirely,  and  many  of 
the  ways  of  the  Service  as  a  whole,  are  only  the 
natural  evolution  toward  a  minimum  of  friction 
and  a  maximum  of  comfort  for  human  beings  of 
varying  ranks  and  dispositions  who  are  rubbed  to- 
gether morning,  noon,  and  night  in  a  close  com- 
munity. Frizzled  beef  is  dismal  enough  of  itself. 
If  you  would  ride  your  hobby,  whether  it  be  torpe- 
doing or  golf,  then  you  must  dismount  when  others 
can  only  choose  between  listening  or  going  hun- 
gry- 

In  the  course  of  an  hour  after  the  meal  every 
member  of  the  steerage  found  his  way  separately 
to  Ballard's  room  and  there  congratulated  him  in 

5 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

the  heartfelt  and  simple  manner  of  friends  who  un- 
derstand each  other. 

Gilligan,  his  classmate,  was  the  last  to  come. 
He,  as  Ballard  knew,  had  had  his  heart  set  on 
getting  the  Avispa.  His  only  chance  of  a  separate 
command  while  he  was  yet  young  enough  to  enjoy 
it  was  gone.  But  he  held  out  his  hand  now  as  gen- 
erously as  he  had  when  his  rival  had  been  made 
captain  of  the  football  team  at  Annapolis. 

Having  regarded  every  one  of  his  twenty-four 
hours'  leave  as  too  precious  to  be  wasted  in  sleep,  it 
was  not  surprising  that,  after  Gilligan  had  gone, 
Ballard  found  himself  tired. 

It  was  the  hottest — the  siesta — hour  of  the  day. 
He  took  off  his  blouse  and  dropped  upon  his  bunk. 
Here  he  was,  smiling  at  his  own  thoughts,  when 
Surgeon  Belvoir,  of  the  senior  mess,  appeared  at 
the  door.  Belvoir  also  had  been  attentive  to  Mar- 
garet Carson.  He  was  a  sallow,  bent  man,  inordi- 
nately fond  of  reading  and  study  aboard  ship  and 
of  poker  ashore. 

"  Congratulations,"  he  said.  "  I'm  sure  she'll 
settle  down  to  be  a  fine  woman." 

Ballard  thanked  him,  without  noticing  any  sting 
in  his  remark. 

"  Tired,  eh? "  added  the  surgeon.  "  You're  not 
6 


BALLARD 

looking  very  perky,  that's  a  fact  Um-m-m,  your 
heart  is  pounding  against  your  shirt  there  like  a 
driving-rod." 

"  Yes,"  was  the  reply.  "  It's  been  doing  that  a 
good  deal  the  last  few  weeks.  Late  hours,  per- 
haps— or  love?  " 

The  surgeon  already  had  put  his  ear  to  the  En- 
sign's breast  with  as  little  ceremony  as  you  would 
shake  hands. 

"  The  late  hours  are  cured,"  Ballard  said,  lightly; 
"  but  there  is  no  cure  for  the  other  thing." 

"  No,  it's  not  that.  Do  you  mind  if  I  put  a 
stethoscope  on  you?  I'm  fond  of  studying  hearts. 
I  want  to  satisfy  myself  about  a  little  point." 

The  surgeon  spoke  in  his  usual  querulous,  ac- 
ademical manner. 

"  Oh,  go  ahead.  Anything  in  the  name  of 
medical  science  except  vivisection." 

Belvoir  brought  his  instrument  from  his  cabin. 
When  he  had  held  the  cups  to  his  ears  for  a  moment 
Ballard  asked: 

"  Well,  do  you  find  that  it's  bifurcated,  or  triple 
expansion,  or  in  the  wrong  place?  Which?  " 

"  Nothing  was  said  about  your  heart  when  you 
were  examined  for  your  commission?"  was  the 
gravely  spoken  question  in  reply. 

7 


"  No,  no.     But  what  do  you  mean?  " 

The  very  thought  of  heart  trouble — that  end  of 
everything — is  chilling  to  a  man  in  the  Service. 

As  Belvoir  fell  back,  the  rubber  tubes  of  the 
stethoscope  wriggling  in  his  hand,  the  Ensign 
dropped  from  the  bunk  to  his  feet. 

"  If  only  it  were  congenital  or  of  long-standing, 
but  too  apparently  it  is  fresh,"  Belvoir  was  saying, 
mechanically.  "  Do  you  want  to  know,  really?  " 

"  I  should  not  ask  if  I  didn't.  Come,  speak  out ! 
What  are  you  waiting  for?  " 

Belvoir  turned  his  head  to  one  side  and  averted 
his  eyes. 

"  You  know  about  Farrand?  "  he  said,  slowly. 

What  member  of  the  Service  did  not  know  what 
the  tropics  had  done  for  Farrand,  a  junior  lieu- 
tenant, promoted  in  February,  who  had  died  the 
week  after  the  Board  passed  him  out  in  June? 

"  Well,"  Belvoir  continued,  "  you  have  the  same 
kind  of  a  lesion.  It  must  be  recent  and  of  rapid 
growth,  else  they  couldn't  have  missed  it  at  the  ex- 
amination for  your  commission." 

"  Impossible !  impossible !  "  Ballard  repeated, 
with  such  vehemence  that  the  little  surgeon  dodged 
as  if  he  expected  a  blow.  "  I,  a  lesion  of  the  heart? 
Why,  I  can  swim  two  miles !  I  have  never  felt  an 

8 


BALLARD 

ache  or  a  pain!  Impossible!  impossible!  You 
can't  fool  me  with  talk  like  that." 

"  Alas,  yes,  but  it's  athletes  who  have  lesions. 
Your  muscles  are  strong,  and  that  only  makes  the 
strain  on  a  weak  heart  the  worse." 

The  fire  from  an  impregnable  position  to  the 
struggling,  hunching  line  which  finds  that  its 
charge  has  failed  can  have  none  of  the  terror  for 
an  officer  of  the  few  measured  words  of  a  surgeon. 
Ballard  gripped  the  railing  of  the  bunk  to  steady 
himself.  Belvoir  thought  that  he  was  going  to  fall. 
But  the  manner  of  the  Service  soon  returned  to 
him. 

"  And  how  long  do  you  think  that  I  shall  last?  " 
he  asked  in  a  voice  that  was  not  breaking,  though 
taut  as  the  string  of  a  violin. 

"  Perhaps  a  year,  perhaps  two  years  if  you  were 
to  lie  in  a  long  chair  at  Pasadena.  Otherwise,  per- 
haps a  month,  perhaps  six  months." 

"  No  long  chair  at  Pasadena  for  me,"  he  said. 
"  I  shall  begin  my  cruise  on  the  Avispa  to-morrow 
— by  your  kindness.  This  examination  was  not 
official.  Promise  me  " — he  grasped  the  surgeon's 
wrists — "  promise  me  that  you  will  not  report  me ! 
That  you'll  not  say  a  word  to  anybody !  " 

Belvoir,  almost  in  terror  of  the  force  of  physique 
9 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

and  force  of  mind  (an  inheritance  from  ancestors 
given  to  explicitness  and  command)  which  were 
concentrated  upon  him,  gave  his  word;  and  it  is  to 
be  recorded  here  that  he  kept  it. 

"  Thank  you,  Belvoir.  I  am  glad  that  it  was  you 
rather  than  a  stranger  who  examined  me  first.  I'm 
afraid  I  seemed  in  a  deadly  funk.  One  does  not 
get  such  news  more  than  once  in  a  lifetime." 

"  I — I  am  sorry.  You  asked  me,"  Belvoir  stam- 
mered as  he  left  the  room. 

Of  the  two  he  was  the  more  perturbed.  As  he 
passed  along  the  metal  corridor  of  the  ship  his  lips 
were  working  and  the  muscles  of  his  face  were 
twitching. 

As  for  the  Ensign,  he  pulled  to  the  hangings  of 
his  door.  For  an  hour  he  sat  looking  steadily  at  a 
corner  of  his  washstand,  seeing  only  Margaret.  He 
could  have  gone  easily,  with  her  kisses  still  moist 
upon  his  cheek,  into  battle  where  certain  death 
awaited  him;  but  what  he  faced  now,  in  the  glow 
of  seeming  health  and  strength,  required  as  much 
the  patience  of  the  invalid  as  the  simple  courage  of 
the  Service. 

Yet  no  one  was  gayer  than  he  at  dinner,  where 
the  current  of  "  grinds  "  was  turned  toward  the 
freshest  cadet  from  the  Academy;  for  "  Babe  "  Arm- 

10 


BALLARD 

strong  had  been  chosen  that  afternoon  by  the  Ad- 
miral as  the  executive  officer  of  the  Avispa. 

At  2  A.M.,  instead  of  sleeping,  Ballard  was  look- 
ing at  the  photograph  of  Margaret,  as  he  still  was  at 
3  A.M.,  before  he  put  it  into  his  box.  At  6  A.M. 
his  things  had  been  passed  over  the  side.  At  seven 
— for  the  older  the  sailor  the  earlier  he  rises — the 
Admiral  sent  for  him  to  receive  his  final  instruc- 
tions. Ballard  found  the  great  commander  taking 
his  constitutional  on  the  after-deck. 

"  Here  are  your  orders  and  there's  your  sugar- 
scoop,  yonder,  my  son,"  he  said,  passing  the  Ensign 
a  typewritten  paper  and  nodding  toward  the  Avispa, 
which  lay  at  anchor  about  a  thousand  yards  away 
in  the  direction  of  Cavite.  "  You've  got  a  sepa- 
rate command,  and  that's  more  than  most  men 
who've  been  in  the  Service  for  twenty  years  have 
had.  It's  a  pity.  Why,  I  had  a  gun-boat  of  my  own 
and  was  fighting  her,  too,  when  I  was  twenty-five. 
It  develops  a  sense  of  responsibility.  You  can't 
ask  any  questions,  now.  You  must  go  ahead  on 
your  own  judgment.  And  when  you  go  ahead, 
go." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  replied  Ballard.  He  supposed  that 
that  was  all,  and  saluted.  Then  the  Admiral,  who 
had  been  looking  the  stalwart  youngster  up  and 

ii 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

down  as  if  he  were  examining  points  in  a  thorough- 
bred, added : 

"  How  old  are  you,  Mr.  Ballard?  " 

"  Twenty-three,  sir." 

"  And  where  did  you  stand  in  your  class?  " 

"  Sixth,  sir." 

"  Didn't  work  very  hard,  eh?  Naturally  couldn't 
help  learning?  " 

"  I  thought  I  worked  pretty  hard  sometimes, 
sir." 

"  Your  father  over  again.  You  look  just  as  he 
did  when  we  were  at  Mobile  Bay  together,  except 
you're  a  little  taller.  Get  that  from  your  mother,  I 
think." 

The  Admiral  put  his  hand  on  Ballard's  shoulder, 
whereat  the  marine  pacing  the  deck  was  more  than 
ever  convinced  that  the  Asiatic  Squadron  was 
going  to  have  an  easy  day  of  it. 

"  Sound  as  a  dollar  from  head  to  foot,"  the  Ad- 
miral continued.  "  Keep  your  health.  You  must 
have  that  as  well  as  a  good  head  in  the  navy.  You're 
sure  of  a  star  on  your  collar  one  day.  Perhaps, 
when  your  hair  gets  as  white  as  mine,  you  may 
have  a  constellation  of  them.  Good-by,  and  good 
luck." 

"  Good-by,  sir.     I  thank  you  with  all  my  heart." 

12 


BALLARD 

"Healthy!"  "Sound!"  "A  star  on  your 
collar !  "  The  Admiral's  words  rang  mockingly 
in  his  ears,  as  he  descended  the  gangway. 

"  I  shall  have  my  star  soon,"  he  thought.  "  In 
the  next  month  I'll  pass  through  all  the  grades. 
I'll  be  Navigator,  Captain,  Squadron  and  Fleet- 
Commander,  Vice-Admiral,  Admiral,  High  Ad- 
miral! It's  my  last  fling.  If  there's  any  excite- 
ment in  the  Avispa  to  make  me  forget  the  thump- 
ing in  my  chest,  I'll  have  it." 

His  own  men  in  his  own  boat — with  his  own 
boatswain,  Swanson,  a  thickset  viking  of  a  Swedish- 
American — rowed  him  over  to  the  Avispa.  Now 
the  Avispa  was  not  a  thing  of  beauty,  but  one  of  the 
mosquito  fleet  for  patrolling  the  shallow  places  of 
the  archipelago  which  we  bought  from  the  Span- 
iards. Being  larger  than  the  others,  which  were  in 
charge  of  cadets,  she  had  an  ensign  for  her  com- 
mander and  a  cadet  for  her  executive.  In  support 
of  the  Admiral's  description  of  her  as  a  sugar-scoop 
was  Swanson's  remark  that  he  had  to  look  under 
water  for  her  screw  to  make  sure  which  end  was 
her  stern. 

As  the  anchor  was  being  raised,  one  of  the 
launches  which  were  going  and  coming  in  the  bay 
ran  alongside.  Ballard  turned  to  see,  first,  that 

13 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

there  was  a  lady  on  board,  and,  then,  to  recognize 
her  as  Mrs.  Gerlison,  who  kept  more  secrets  than 
any  woman  in  Manila. 

"  Is  this  the  flag-ship  of  Vice- Admiral  Ballard?  " 
she  called. 

"Ay,  ay,  Madam,  and  at  your  service,"  he  re- 
plied, cheerfully. 

"  I  told  the  quartermaster,"  she  said,  as  the 
launch  made  fast  to  the  Avispa,  "  that  whoever 
served  me  served  the  army.  That's  not  down  in 
the  regulations,  but  it's  as  patent  as  the  unwritten 
rules  of  decorum,  don't  you  think?  And  I  had  to 
have  the  launch  so  that  you  might  depart  with 
proper  honors." 

"  How's  Margaret?  "  he  asked. 

"  My !  How  serious  you  are !  So  far  as  I  know 
there  is  no  change  in  her  symptoms.  I  think  her 
pulse  and  her  temperature  are  the  same  as  they  were 
yesterday  morning.  Oh,  yes,  by  the  way — there  is 
someone  in  the  cabin  of  the  launch  who  has  seen 
her  since  I  have." 

Mrs.  Gerlison's  characteristic  little  trick  was  ob- 
vious. As  he  leaped  aboard  the  launch  he  con- 
cluded that  he  could  not  tell  Margaret  of  what  had 
come  between  them  over  night  at  this  time  and  in 
this  place.  He  forgot  everything  except  the  girl 


BALLARD 

whose  lips  met  his  when  he  assisted  her  up  the  step 
from  the  little  cabin  of  the  launch. 

"  So  this  is  your  battle-ship?  "  She  looked  at  the 
Avispa  fondly. 

"  No,  no;  my  fleet,  dear,"  passing  her  aboard. 
"  Mrs.  Gerlison  has  just  referred  to  me  as  Vice-Ad- 
miral. I  am  surprised  at  her  ignorance.  The 
Babe  is  Vice-Admiral.  I  am  full  Admiral — yes, 
High  Admiral,  with  power  on  land  and  sea — only 
the  Chinese  tailor  has  not  finished  my  stars.  Every 
man  of  my  crew  there  is  either  an  armored  cruiser 
or  a  battle-ship.  The  Spanish  pilot  is  my  scouting 
service  of  fast  cruisers,  while  our  native  engineer  is 
the  torpedo  flotilla.  I  regret  to  state,  however, 
that  we  are  to  patrol  the  coast  of  Mindanao.  I  had 
hoped  to  chase  pirates  in  the  Sulu  seas." 

'''  The  flag-ship,  and  more  particularly  the  pock- 
marked torpedo  flotilla  are  not  things  of  beauty, 
but  I  am  sure  that  they  must  be  terrors,"  she  said. 
"  I  hope  you  do  get  a  good  chance.  Perhaps  when 
we're  " — and  she  gave  the  strong  arm  on  which  she 
was  leaning  a  hug — "  you'll  get  shore  service  in 
Washington  for  the  winter." 

"  If  work  and  love  can  do  anything,  yes." 

He  showed  her  over  the  Avispa  and  operated  the 
guns  for  her  as  if  this  girl  bred  in  the  army  was  see- 

15 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

ing — so  she  thought  she  was — six-pounders  and 
peppery  Colt's  automatics  for  the  first  time.  Then 
they  talked;  then  they  made  promises  as  you  have 
made  them — as  the  Good  Lord  grant  that  you  may 
make  them  one  day,  if  you  have  not — until  the  Ad- 
miral, who  had  been  looking  with  his  restless  sailor's 
eyes  through  his  glasses  at  the  army  launch,  sig- 
nalled to  know  if  anything  was  the  matter. 

After  assisting  Mrs.  Gerlison  aboard,  Ballard 
stepped  on  to  the  launch  with  Margaret,  kissed  her, 
and  jumped  back  on  to  the  Avispa  across  the  widen- 
ing gulf  between  the  two  craft. 

"  Do  be  careful,  dear !  Do  promise,  dear !  If 
anything  should  happen  to  you — there  must  not! 
There  must  not !  " 

And  Mrs.  Gerlison,  wise  in  such  things,  was 
touched  at  the  soberness  and  strength  of  real  love 
that  Margaret,  a  few  days  ago  under  the  suspicion 
of  being  something  of  a  flirt,  showed  in  those  pas- 
sionate words  which  Ballard  barely  heard  for  the 
chugging  of  the  engine. 

As  far  as  Mrs.  Gerlison,  in  fear  of  the  Quarter- 
master's Department,  dared  to  permit  it,  the  launch 
followed  the  Avispa  on  its  course  toward  Corregi- 
dor.  Ballard  watched  the  fluttering  handkerchief 
in  its  stern  until,  finally,  even  the  white  speck  dis- 

16 


BALLARD 

appeared.  With  it  the  light  of  the  world  went  out 
for  him.  All  that  remained,  he  thought,  was  to 
clean  up  the  ashes. 

As  he  turned  away  the  Babe  said : 

"  She  is  fine !     You  are  lucky ! " 


II 

FOR  three  days  and  three  nights  the  Avispa  kept 
on  her  course  in  and  out  among  the  islands  of  the 
archipelago.  By  day  the  rays  of  the  sun,  fierce 
with  heat  and  glare,  glancing  from  the  leaden  sur- 
face of  the  calm  sea,  made  a  common  triumph  with 
the  heat  of  the  engine  and  its  odor  of  oil  over  the 
wet  undershirt  stickily  clinging  to  the  white  man's 
back.  At  night  there  was  relief,  but  not  sleep,  as 
Ballard,  lying  on  a  mat  on  deck,  watched  the  trail 
of  rippling  phosphorescence  in  the  gun-boat's  wake, 
or  the  sky,  spangled  with  gold-dust  and  set  with  the 
Southern  Cross. 

His  greatest  happiness  lay  in  writing  the  chron- 
icle of  each  day's  events  in  a  little  red  leather  memo- 
randum book,  whose  pages  he  was  to  tear  out  and 
mail  to  Margaret  at  the  first  opportunity.  He 
described  at  length  the  weaknesses  and  the  strong 
points  of  the  various  members  of  his  command. 
Vice-Admiral  Babe,  "  my  Hardy,"  was  developing 
a  fine  sense  of  dignity  and  responsibility.  His  Span- 
ish pilot,  Rodriguez,  on  further  acquaintance  ap- 

18 


BALLARD 

peared  to  have  been  chosen  because  he  could  speak 
English  rather  than  for  his  knowledge  of  harbors. 
Swanson  was  a  jewel  of  a  boatswain.  The  torpedo 
flotilla  lacked  initiative  and  could  not  exceed  five 
knots  an  hour. 

He  spoke  of  their  marriage  and  their  winter  in 
Washington  as  a  settled  programme.  Perhaps  he 
was  cheating  her  by  keeping  up  this  illusion,  which 
was  bread,  meat,  and  wine  to  him.  He  exculpated 
himself  with  the  reasoning  that  his  deceit  would 
not  be  for  long.  Addressed  to  her  and  not  to  be 
torn  out,  he  had  written  upon  the  fly-leaf  of  the  little 
red  book  the  story  of  Belvoir's  diagnosis. 

On  the  morning  of  the  fourth  day  the  Avispa 
sighted  the  northeasterly  point  of  the  island  of  Min- 
danao, which  is  second  to  Luzon  in  size  and  least 
known  of  the  archipelago.  The  task  set  for  the 
Avispa  was  to  prevent  the  passage  of  insurgents, 
arms,  or  ammunition  between  the  northern  coast  of 
Mindanao  and  the  Visayas.  When  he  had  steamed 
nearly  a  hundred  miles  without  any  incident  except 
the  overhauling  of  a  lorcha  with  nothing  more 
formidable  than  hemp  aboard,  he  began  to  fear  that 
such  commonplaces  would  make  the  sum  of  his 
activity.  He  passed  a  number  of  fishing  villages 
and  three  places  large  enough  to  be  called  towns, 

19 


THE  WAYS   OF   THE  SERVICE 

finding  it  hard  not  to  exceed  instructions  on  the 
first  day  out  and  make  a  call  on  the  third.  How- 
ever, he  concluded  that  he  could  afford  the  discre- 
tion and  postpone  this  pleasure  until  he  was  on  his 
way  back.  At  night  he  steamed  slowly,  barely 
keeping  land  in  sight.  The  breaking  of  light  dis- 
closed just  ahead  the  largest  town  that  he  had  yet 
seen. 

"  Durinao !  "  exclaimed  the  pilot.  "  The  people 
are  rich  in  hemp,  and  so  the  insurgents  are  there  in 
great  force." 

"  Are  they?  We'll  run  in  a  little  closer  than 
we  have  elsewhere  and  see  what  Durinao  is  like." 

Rodriguez  was  a  man  of  peace. 

"  No,  no,  Capitan !  "  he  protested.  "  They  have 
rifles,  five  or  six  hundred  rifles.  They  have  cannon. 
Oof !  They  could  blow  our  little  Avispa  to  pieces." 

Ballard  became  as  light-hearted  as  he  was  when 
he  burst  into  the  steerage  with  the  news  of  his  en- 
gagement. He  pointed  the  Avispa 's  bow  on  to  the 
beach.  Swanson  was  put  in  charge  of  the  lead. 
The  Babe  sent  the  men  to  their  positions  and  had 
the  covers  off  the  guns  and  extra  ammunition  in 
place  in  a  twinkling.  He  had  never  been  under 
fire.  Electric  needles  were  pricking  every  part  of 
his  body  and  crickets  were  singing  in  his  ears. 

30 


BALLARD 

"That  settles  it!  That's  casus  belli!  They're 
running  up  their  flag !  Break  out  ours !  "  called 
Ballard,  his  glasses  to  his  eyes. 

"  But,  Captain,"  protested  the  pilot,  wiping  his 
hat  instead  of  his  brow  with  his  handkerchief  in 
his  excitement,  "  they  have  rifles !  They  have 
cannon ! " 

Then  he  saw  that  his  suit  was  hopeless. 

"  The  Avispa  is  so  small,"  he  went  on,  "  so  very 
small,  Captain.  I  think  that  I  will  go  below  to 
make  room  for  the  crew  to  work  the  guns.  Do  I 
have  the  Captain's  permission?  " 

"  Yes,  yes,  certainly,"  replied  Ballard,  who  by  this 
time  (the  Avispa  steaming  ahead  at  full  speed) 
could  see  that  in  a  long  trench  on  the  beach  four 
cannon,  apparently  smooth-bore,  were  mounted. 
In  the  intervals  between  them  the  line  of  earth  was 
dotted  with  straw  hats.  In  front  of  the  hats  were 
rifles,  and  under  them,  unquestionably,  were  in- 
surgents. 

"  I  was  trained  for  the  merchant  service,"  the 
pilot  added  in  self-defence. 

Then  he  and  all  his  dignity  withdrew  into  the 
cramped  cabin.  By  a  nice  calculation  he  got  his 
head  and  body  below  the  water-line.  His  legs  were 
above  it.  If  they  were  hit,  he  would  not  die,  he  re- 

21 


THE  WAYS  OF  THE  SERVICE 

fleeted;  and  a  wounded  Rodriguez  would  be  a  great 
hero  among  his  friends  in  the  Cafe  Vagabundo  in 
Manila. 

Ballard  fully  expected  that  the  insurgents  would 
open  as  soon  as  their  bullets  would  carry  to  the 
Avispa.  He  approached  to  within  twelve  hundred 
yards  and  still  the  enemy  was  silent,  apparently 
stayed  by  wonder  at  the  intentions  of  this  diminutive 
gun-boat  which  was  dashing  toward  the  trench  as 
if  bent  upon  ramming  it.  With  his  own  eye  glanc- 
ing along  the  barrel  of  the  Colt,  which  is  as  re- 
fractory as  a  violin  unless  played  by  an  expert, 
Ballard  passed  the  word  to  the  six-pounder,  the 
three-pounder  and  the  two  one-pounders  that  a 
thousand  yards  was  the  range,  at  the  same  time  as 
an  order  to  Swanson  who  was  at  the  helm.  As  the 
Avispa  swung  broadside  on  to  the  trench  the  guns 
and  the  Colt  spoke  in  chorus. 

With  fingers  on  their  triggers,  the  manikins 
were  ready  to  make  reply.  Themselves  under 
cover,  they  had  for  their  target  an  object  thirty  feet 
over  all  and  eight  feet  beam.  They  were  sure  that 
the  scrap-iron  from  their  smooth-bores  ought  to 
cut  the  enemy  into  mincemeat,  if  it  hit  him,  and  to 
scare  him  into  submission  if  it  did  not.  As  the 
volley  whistled  by  there  came  from  the  subcon- 

22 


BALLARD 

sciousness  of  Swanson,  who  was  strictly  attentive 
to  his  duties,  this  remark : 

"  Shooting  windmills  at  us,  b'shee !  " 
Most  of  the  bullets  along  with  the  scrap-iron  had 
passed  overhead.  For  those  which  had  splattered 
against  the  hull  or  sung  close  to  the  deck  it  was 
only  to  be  said  that  they  hit  no  one.  In  any  action 
of  a  trained  service  there  are  men  who  are,  and  men 
who  are  not,  hit.  The  men  who  are  not  hit  are  so 
many  automatons  who  go  on  with  their  work  until 
their  gun  is  smashed,  their  ammunition  is  out  or 
they  are  told  to  cease  firing.  In  three  seconds 
every  gun  had  discharged  another  missile,  while 
the  Colt  was  kicking  up  a  succession  of  little  bursts 
of  dust  back  and  forth  along  the  top  of  the  trench 
with  the  purring  constancy  of  a  nice  old  lady  who 
has  settled  down  to  an  afternoon's  knitting.  The 
six-pounder,  whose  first  shot  had  been  wide,  recti- 
fied its  error  with  the  second. 

If  there  had  been  a  white  officer  and  white  men 
in  the  trench,  the  officer  might  have  ripped  out  an 
oath  before  his  men  showed  themselves  and  fired 
with  accuracy  until  every  member  of  the  Avispa's 
crew  was  dead  or  wounded  or  she  had  raised  the 
white  flag.  But  it  takes  stomach  for  that,  even  if 
it  does  not  to  fire  upon  the  back  of  a  khaki  blouse 

23 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

from  the  cover  of  bamboo;  and  the  manikins  have 
not  the  stomach  and  are  given  to  routine  oaths 
and  not  to  oaths  in  emergencies  or  to  being-  gentle 
to  women  and  embarrassed  if  you  praise  their 
deeds. 

They  returned  the  Avispa's  fire  with  the  poor 
aim  of  the  man  who  holds  his  rifle  over  his  head  in 
fear.  Then  a  white  shirt  attached  to  a  stick  ap- 
peared above  the  line  of  the  trench,  and  the  guns 
of  the  Avispa  were  silent.  After  the  shirt  came 
cautiously  a  hand,  then  a  head  and  finally  a  body, 
until,  at  length,  two  manikins  started  from  the 
shore  in  a  banca,  still  waving  the  emblem  of  truce. 
One  of  them  sat  in  the  stern.  He  was  a  Filipino 
lieutenant,  who  wore  three  or  four  yards  of  Spanish 
gold  braid.  The  other  paddled  in  the  leisurely 
manner  of  a  diplomatic  mission.  He  was  the  lieu- 
tenant's orderly.  The  lieutenant  bore  himself 
grandly  as  he  stepped  aboard  the  gun-boat. 

"  My  General,  who  is  also  the  Presidente  of  the 
town,"  he  said,  "  has  sent  me  to  inquire  why  you 
fired  on  us." 

"  If  the  Presidente  has  anything  to  say,"  was  the 
reply,  which  made  the  lieutenant  believe  that  Bal- 
lard  was  really  a  man  of  some  importance,  "  let  him 
come  to  me  in  person.  Otherwise,  I  shall  begin 

24 


BALLARD 

firing  again  as  soon  as  I  have  allowed  you  reason- 
able time  to  return  to  your  trench." 

"  But  his  rank  will  not  permit  the  General  to 
come  out  to  the  commander  of  the  little  gun-boat," 
said  the  lieutenant,  playing  the  part  in  which  the 
half-breeds  excel. 

"  Very  well.  Tell  your  Presidente  that  I  am  a 
High  Admiral,  the  commander  of  the  fleet.  More- 
over, I  have  the  range  for  shrapnel  now  to  a  T  and 
can  drop  them  in  on  you  like  that  " — and  Ballard 
made  a  downward  gesture  to  illustrate  the  move- 
ment of  the  particles  of  a  shell.  "  You  might  add, 
too,  with  my  compliments  and  my  best  wishes  for 
his  health,  that  we  shall  probably  catch  him  in  per- 
son with  the  first  burst." 

"  I  thank  you.  I  think  the  Presidente  will  con- 
descend to  come." 

There  was  something  closely  approaching  rev- 
erence in  the  lieutenant's  bow.  He  was  surprised. 
He  had  heard  that  the  Americans  were  not  at  all 
a  polite  or  a  clever  people. 

While  the  banca  was  returning  to  shore  the  idea 
which  had  been  growing  in  Ballard's  mind  realized 
form  and  maturity.  It  was  nothing  less  than  to 
take  and  occupy  the  town.  In  this  difficult  task 
there  was  certainly  enough  diversion  to  drown 

25 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

thoughts  of  the  pounding  of  his  heart  or  of  death 
on  a  hospital  cot.  He  announced  it  to  Rodriguez, 
who  now  emerged  from  the  companionway  as 
tentatively  as  the  shirt  had  been  raised  over  the 
trench. 

"  Oh,  Sefior,  oh,  Capitan !  No,  no !  That  is  im- 
possible. There  are  armed  insurgents  in  the  in- 
terior, hundreds  of  armed  insurgents !  Oof !  The 
garrison  !  How  would  you  garrison  it?  " 

"  With  the  crews  of  my  fleet,"  was  the  reply. 
"  You  can  handle  a  rifle,  too." 

"  Ah,  no !  As  I  told  you,  I  was  trained  for  the 
merchant  service." 

Rodriguez  sat  down  on  the  cover  of  the  com- 
panionway to  think. 

The  Presidente  lost  no  time,  when  Ballard's 
ultimatum  was  called  to  him  as  soon  as  the  banco, 
grounded  on  the  beach,  in  joining  his  aide.  He 
was  a  fat  half-breed,  as  most  Presidentes  are.  He 
wore  two  diamond  rings  and  a  heavy  gold  watch 
chain,  with  three  sovereigns  and  two  Napoleons 
for  charms,  and  bore  himself  with  grandly  injured 
dignity. 

"  Sefior  Capitan,"  he  said,  "  though  we  did  not 
fire  on  you,  though  we  had  no  arrangement  to  fight, 
you  fired  on  us." 

26 


BALLARD 

"  And  you  didn't  consider  that  fair? "  Ballard 
asked.  "  We  ought  to  have  set  a  day  and  made  it 
a  function,  eh?  " 

"  Yes,  in  all  politeness.  Is  it  not  usual?  And 
you  ran  too  close — as  close  as  if  you  were  a  friend. 
An  enemy  would  not.  It  is  too  close  for  fair 
fighting." 

"  Well,  we  fired  on  you  because  you  were  flying 
the  flag  of  an  armed  enemy  in  the  territory  of  the 
United  States.  That  is  our  way.  Now,  how  many 
rifles  have  you  in  your  garrison  of  Durinao?  " 

"  Five  hundred ! "  The  Presidente  threw  out 
his  chest. 

"  Five  hundred !  Think  of  getting  five  hundred 
rifles,  Babe !  But,  no  fear !  He  hasn't  that  many. 
Then,  Senor  Presidente,  I  shall  expect  you  to  sur- 
render five  hundred  rifles  to  me  within  the  hour." 

"  Surely  you  jest,"  said  the  Presidente.  "  We 
have  not  the  five  hundred  in  the  trench.  We  have 
great  reinforcements  in  the  interior.  We  can  kill 
all  your  crew  and  defend  ourselves  forever." 

"  Indeed.  Those  big  houses  in  the  square,  yon- 
der, are  they  yours?  " 

"  One  is." 

"  Very  good.  If  you  don't  surrender  we  shall 
blow  your  house  to  pieces." 

27 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

The  Presidente  was  disillusioned,  not  to  say 
shocked,  by  Ballard's  candor.  Apparently  these 
Americans  were  not  the  kind  of  men  described  in 
the  letters  from  the  Hong-Kong  and  Paris  Juntas. 
America,  he  had  understood,  was  a  far  distant  land. 
The  inhabitants,  he  had  understood,  were  a  cow- 
ardly, half-savage  people,  who  had  nothing  of  the 
manners  or  the  civilization  of  such  mestizo  Span- 
iards as  himself.  But  in  America  there  was  this 
wonder  which  explained  everything;  namely,  a 
great  mountain  range  of  gold,  the  same  being 
called  pork  in  their  low  tongue,  that  yielded  wealth 
to  all  who  would  chip  it  off  and  carry  it  away. 
Therefore,  it  was  the  delight  of  the  Americans  to 
buy  things  and  think  well  of  themselves.  The 
Spaniards,  who  were  eminently  the  superior  of  the 
Americans  in  mind  and  cunning,  finding  the  Philip- 
pines unprofitable  because  of  the  agitation  and 
belligerency  of  the  rebels,  had  allowed  the  Amer- 
icans to  whip  them  in  order  that  they  might  sell 
the  Philippines  to  the  foolish  victors  for  many 
millions. 

Si,  and  this  was  not  the  whole  story  of  the  Amer- 
icans' guilelessness.  You  might  lie  behind  a  bush 
and  shoot  at  them  and  they  would  only  take  away 
the  rifle  hot  from  your  hand  and  let  you  go  with  a 

28 


BALLARD 

warning  not  to  do  so  again — as  if  warnings  counted 
for  anything!  Si,  a  Filipino  General  in  Luzon, 
when  he  was  tired  of  fighting,  surrendered;  and  the 
American  Governor  in  Manila  was  so  afraid  of  the 
Filipino  General  that  he  let  him  go  free  in  the 
streets  to  plan  uprisings.  Si,  and  the  American 
Governor,  who  was  so  kind  and  so  foolish  that  he 
would  not  allow  drivers  to  beat  their  horses,  had 
established  a  thing  called  Municipal  Councils, 
which  allowed  the  common  natives  who  go  in  and 
out  of  the  bamboo  as  much  say  in  government  as 
the  half-breeds;  and  in  consequence  of  this  the 
half-breeds  were  at  some  pains  to  explain  to  the 
common  natives  that  the  Governor  did  this  to  en- 
slave them.  Si,  and  there  was  a  thing  called  Con- 
gress, in  America,  which  had  many  members  who 
thought  that  it  was  a  mistake  to  cut  pieces  out 
of  the  mountain  of  gold  to  send  abroad,  because 
they  foresaw  that  in  this  way  the  mountain  would 
not  last  forever.  Si,  these  were  the  allies  of  rebel- 
lion— so  very  foolish  were  the  Americans.  All  this, 
with  the  news  of  many  Filipino  victories,  came  to 
Mindanao  in  various  ways.  Indeed,  at  first  sight 
of  the  Avispa  the  Presidente  had  encouraged  his 
followers  with  the  idea  that  the  Americans,  driven 
out  of  Luzon,  had  come  to  Mindanao  for  refuge. 

29 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

"  But  so  civilized  a  nation  as  America  does  not 
fire  on  women  and  children,"  said  the  Presidente,  in 
an  excess  of  politeness. 

"  You  should  not  build  trenches  in  front  of  your 
women  and  children.  We  will  give  you  time  to 
get  them  out  of  the  way.  And  now,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  you  don't  care  anything  about  women  and 
children.  You  wouldn't  give  up  your  gold  watch 
and  chain  to  save  the  lives  of  a  thousand.  You 
extort  from  them,  you  deceive  them  in  order  that 
you  may  do  well.  You  are  a  clever  man,  eh,  Senor 
Presidente?  " 

"  Thank  you,"  said  the  Presidente,  thinking  that 
now  he  had  matters  on  a  practical  basis.  "  Yes,  I 
am  a  clever  man  and  you  are  a  rich  people.  You 
give  me  fifty  thousand  pesos  and  I  surrender: 
twenty  thousand  pesos  a  year,  let  me  '  squeeze  '  the 
people  and  I  will  keep  order  in  the  province." 

"  We  don't  do  things  in  that  way,"  was  the  reply. 
"  I  confess  I  do  not  like  to  destroy  property  or  fire 
on  women  and  children,  for  I  am  sure  you  wouldn't 
warn  them.  Oh,  I  know  you  half-breeds  very 
well!" 

Ballard  hesitated  a  moment,  considering  from 
many  points  of  view  the  suicidal  plan  which  had 
flashed  through  his  mind. 

30 


BALLARD 

"  I  have  a  proposition,"  he  said,  "  which  will  save 
the  women  and  children  and  prevent  the  killing  of 
your  soldiers.  You  will  bring  your  men  out  of 
the  trench  on  to  the  beach.  I  will  stand  here  on 
the  deck  by  the  six-pounder  quite  exposed  and 
alone.  They  are  to  fire  at  me  for  five  minutes. 
If  they  don't  hit  me  then,  they  are  to  surrender 
their  rifles.  If  they  do  hit  me,  the  Avispa  will  sail 
away  and  leave  you  in  undisputed  possession  of 
the  town.  Meanwhile,  you  will  remain  here  as 
hostage  under  cover.  I  will  wave  my  handker- 
chief as  a  signal  for  your  men  to  begin  firing,  and 
discharge  a  shell  when  the  five  minutes  are  up." 

The  Presidente  fiddled  with  his  watch-chain.  He 
mistrusted  his  own  ears.  Ballard  repeated  what  he 
had  said. 

"  It  is  sure  death,  Senor  Capitan.  We  have  the 
Mausers  with  the  magazines.  We  can  shoot  thou- 
sands of  bullets,"  was  the  reply. 

"  Be  it  so.  I  will  show  you  how  helpless  it  is  for 
you  to  fight  the  Americans.  You  cannot  hit  me." 

A  light  burst  upon  the  Presidente.  Now  it  was 
explained  why  the  Ensign  was  so  different  from 
the  Americans  of  his  conception.  The  Ensign  was 
mad.  And  the  Presidente  consented  to  the  ar- 
rangement in  grandiloquent  terms  which  included 


THE   WAYS  OF  THE  SERVICE 

admiration  for  Ballard's  courage  and  the  hope  that 
he  would  have  a  magnificent  funeral.  For,  whatever 
the  moral  defects  of  Presidentes,  you  see,  they  have 
a  fine  command  of  polite  language. 

"  Finally,"  said  Ballard,  as  the  aide-de-camp  of 
the  Presidente  was  stepping  into  the  banco,  to  go 
ashore  to  inform  the  manikins  of  the  part  they 
were  to  play,  "  if  I  am  not  hit,  and  your  men  at- 
tempt to  run  back  to  the  trench,  not  half  of  them 
will  reach  it  and  none  will  get  out  of  it  alive." 

Rodriguez,  who  had  overheard  the  conversation, 
was  too  flustered  for  words.  The  Babe,  who  had 
been  aft,  when  Ballard  announced  his  intentions  as 
if  they  were  merely  orders  of  the  day,  did  not  stop 
to  consider  that  the  commanding  officer's  plans 
were  none  of  his  business.  Already  the  banca  was 
half  way  to  the  shore. 

"  I  won't  stand  by  and  see  you  murdered ! "  he 
cried.  "  Of  course  they'll  hit  you.  In  five  min- 
utes they  can  easily  fire  two  thousand  rounds.  You 
might  as  well  try  to  dodge  snowflakes.  Call  that 
boat  back,  or  I  will." 

"  Babe,  I'm  going  to  do  it,  and  there's  an  end  of 
the  matter.  The  crew  will  be  in  no  danger.  And, 
Babe,  wouldn't  you  go  through  with  it  if  you  had 
gone  as  far  as  I  have?  " 

32 


BALLARD 

"  I  wouldn't  have  started." 

"  Well,  I  have  started." 

"  And  Margaret?  "  Babe  asked. 

"  And  Margaret?  "  Ballard  repeated. 

He  steadied  himself  by  placing  his  hand  on  the 
barrel  of  the  six-pounder.  For  the  moment  he  had 
the  illusion  of  many  years  of  love  and  happiness 
before  him.  Then  he  rallied  himself  for  funking  a 
speedy  death,  the  best  of  the  inevitable.  He  told 
the  Babe  to  give  Margaret  his  note-book.  Then 
he  turned  to  the  provision  of  safety  for  those  around 
him. 

Rodriguez  had  just  issued  a  fiat  to  the  Presidente 
that  there  was  not  room  for  two  in  the  cabin. 
Either  Ballard's  assurance  that  bullets  could  not 
penetrate  the  plates  of  the  hull,  or  their  own  fright, 
sent  them  below.  He  then  bade  the  crew  to  see 
that  every  gun  was  charged  with  a  shell,  ready  for 
an  emergency.  By  the  time  that  this  was  done  the 
lieutenant  had  landed,  and  was  leading  the  insur- 
gents out  of  the  trench  down  to  the  beach. 

With  the  guns  swung  around  so  that  no  bullets 
could  enter  the  muzzles,  the  crew  doggedly,  at  Bal- 
lard's command,  cleared  decks  for  action  in  a 
fashion  unprecedented  in  the  American  navy. 
They  had  merely  to  tread  water  or  buoy  themselves 

33 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

with  their  hands  on  the  gunwale,  in  order  to  have 
two  thicknesses  of  steel  between  them  and  the  en- 
emy. Though  included  in  the  order,  Babe  remained 
on  deck.  His  underlip  was  quivering  a  little.  He 
did  not  propose  to  take  cover  when  his  superior  offi- 
cer remained  standing;  and  he  told  Ballard  so. 

"  You  mean  to  disobey  orders?  "  Ballard  asked. 

"  Yes.  It  is  justifiable  under  the  circumstances." 

"  Then  I'll  have  to  throw  you  overboard." 

"  If  you  try  that  I'll  clinch  and  take  you  with 
me." 

Babe  drew  himself  up  a  little — for  he  lacked  four 
inches  of  Ballard's  height — to  show  that  he  was 
equal  to  the  task. 

"  You  can't,  Babe,  and  you  know  that  you  can't. 
I'll  only  hold  you  on  board,  give  the  signal,  and  the 
target  for  our  friends  on  the  beach  will  be  so  much 
the  larger.  They'll  shoot  at  us  both,  and  both  will 
be  in  line  of  the  scattering  bullets.  My  only  chance 
is  that  every  man  jack  will  aim  directly  at  me.  Do 
you  want  my  death  on  your  hands?  Do  you  want 
the  Avispa  to  be  without  a  commissioned  officer? 
Come!  They  are  ready.  It  isn't  polite  to  keep 
them  waiting.  Let's  have  the  suspense  over!  I 
order  you  overboard !  " 

"  Well,  if  they  kill  you,  all  I've  got  to  say  is,  that 
34 


BALLARD 

I'll  chuck  the  Presidente  in  and  let  him  swim  for  it. 
I'll  run  in  close  and  I'll  hammer  those  Gugus  as 
long  as  I've  a  shot  left." 

"  No,  you  won't,"  called  Ballard  after  him. 
"  You'll  keep  my  promise  and  sail  away.  Say  that 
you  will." 

He  received  a  dogged  nod  in  reply  and  turned 
toward  the  shore. 

The  insurgents  had  taken  greedy  advantage  of 
their  privilege.  Fully  a  hundred  figures  were  at  the 
very  water's  edge,  each  at  a  knee-rest.  The  Presi- 
dente's  aide-de-camp  stood  at  one  end  of  the  line, 
coaching  his  men.  There  was  only  a  ripple  on  the 
stretch  of  a  thousand  yards  of  water  which  sepa- 
rated them  from  their  target.  Ballard's  white  uni- 
form stood  out  clearly  against  the  background  of 
sea  and  sky. 

He  took  out  his  watch,  and,  unconsciously  throw- 
ing one  leg  a  little  in  front  of  the  other,  at  ease,  he 
waved  his  handkerchief.  There  was  a  sound  along 
the  shore  as  of  the  ripping  of  a  lathe  in  two.  The 
crew  behind  the  hull  heard  the  bullets  glancing  on 
the  water,  popping  in  the  air,  zipping  close  to  their 
ears,  tearing  through  the  smoke-stack,  ringing 
against  the  barrels  of  the  guns,  spatting  against 
the  plates  of  the  hull,  in  a  storm  of  distinct  sounds. 

35 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

In  the  second's  silence  that  followed,  nine  heads 
appeared  above  the  gunwale,  nine  pairs  of  eyes 
expecting  to  see  Ballard  prostrate.  He  was  still 
standing  in  his  careless  position. 

The  insurgents  hesitated  a  moment,  scouting  the 
authority  of  their  own  vision.  Then  they  began 
firing  rapidly  at  will,  with  the  desperation  of  one 
who  feels  that  he  is  hopelessly  lungeing  his  sword 
through  a  phantom.  Most  of  them,  in  their  in- 
creasing excitement,  sent  their  bullets  wider  and 
wider  of  the  mark.  But  not  all.  A  few  were  set- 
tling down  to  careful  aim,  judging,  with  the  fine  in- 
stinct that  goes  with  it,  whether  or  not  the  last  shot 
went  too  far  to  the  right  or  the  left,  too  high  or  too 
low. 

When  the  second-hand  had  wrenched  its  way 
around  to  the  fourth  minute,  Ballard  realized  that 
upon  them  depended  his  fate.  The  deck  was 
splintered  at  his  feet.  The  hisses  in  his  ears  be- 
came more  frequent.  With  the  fifth  minute  he 
found  himself  straining  as  if  he  were  in  shackles. 
He  felt  the  full  swing  of  the  natural  passion  to  re- 
turn blow  for  blow.  Something  stung  his  knuckles 
and  brought  the  blood.  There  came  a  z-s-s-p-p 
and  a  rush  of  air  so  close  to  his  cheek  that  he  in- 
voluntarily threw  his  head  to  one  side.  The  bullet 

36 


BALLARD 

which  he  had  foolishly  tried  to  dodge  was  a  good 
friend,  for  one  close  following  it  passed  through  his 
collar  when  otherwise  it  would  have  gone  through 
his  neck.  And  then  the  shoulder  of  his  blouse  was 
clipped,  the  crown  of  his  cap  was  cut,  while  the 
hissing  grew  more  and  more  savage,  until  the 
second-hand  pointed  to  the  end  of  the  allotted  time 
and  he  swung  the  six-pounder  around  and  dis- 
charged the  shell  which  had  been  agreed  upon  as 
a  signal. 

With  its  hurtle  through  the  air  the  firing  from 
the  beach  ceased.  He  was  alive  because  he  had 
been  the  bull's-eye  of  the  target.  As  his  little  com- 
mand came  dripping  on  to  the  deck,  he  was  enjoy- 
ing the  elation  of  having  overcome  an  obstacle,  the 
keener  foretaste  of  interesting  events  to  come.  He 
grasped  Babe's  wet  hands  in  his. 

"  We've  taken  a  town  and  a  hundred  rifles  with 
a  crew  of  eight.  You'll  be  Presidente  and  I'll  be 
Governor  of  the  province." 

He  was  prevented  from  dragging  Babe  into  a 
war  dance,  first,  by  the  attitude  of  Babe  himself, 
and  then  by  that  of  the  crew,  whose  joy  and  relief 
were  so  deep  that  they  were  in  a  solemn  mood  of 
wonder  and  thanksgiving  for  his  deliverance.  And 
then  Rodriguez  and  the  Presidente,  the  crumpled 

37 


THE   WAYS  OF   THE   SERVICE 

state  of  their  garb  plainly  telling  that  self-preserva- 
tion may  be  too  awkward  to  be  justly  called  an  art, 
appeared  from  the  cabin. 

"  There !  You  see  I  was  as  good  as  my  word, 
as  I  always  shall  be,"  Ballard  said  to  the  Presi- 
dente. 

"  You  possess  some  charm — an  arcing-anting," 
he  replied,  affably. 

After  the  Avispa  had  been  run  alongside  the  few 
weather-beaten  boards  and  stringers  which  had 
served  as  a  landing-stage  before  insurrection  closed 
the  port,  and  the  crew  had  taken  possession  of  the 
rifles  and  organized  the  prisoners  into  columns  of 
fours  to  march  them  to  the  plaza,  Ballard  wrote  a 
brief  official  report  of  the  taking  of  the  town  and 
then  a  longer  one  for  Margaret,  without  mentioning 
in  either  of  them  its  one  distinguishing  feature. 

"  Babe,  I'll  keep  the  Colt,"  he  said.  "  You  and 
the  engineer  are  to  take  the  Avispa  to  Cebu  and 
return  as  fast  as  you  can  drive  her.  I  am  going  to 
hold  the  town  until  this  message  which  you  will 
cable  to  the  Admiral  brings  help.  I  shall  expect  you 
back  in  four  days.  We  may  need  you  before  that. 
Eight  is  not  a  large  garrison." 

"  Nine,  if  you  please,"  said  the  pilot,  who  had 
been  silent  all  this  time.  "  I  was  trained  for  the 

38 


BALLARD 

merchant  service,  but  I  will  follow  you  and  your 
charm  anywhere  now." 

"  Nine,  then.  Thank  you,  Rodriguez.  And, 
Babe,  please  don't  mention  that  I  made  myself  a 
target.  It  sounds  too  theatrical." 


39 


Ill 

WHEN  the  Admiral  had  read  Ballard's  cable- 
gram, which  was  brought  to  him  with  his  coffee 
on  the  after-deck,  he  called  his  barge  and  started 
straightway  for  Manila  in  a  state  of  pride  and 
joyful  anticipation.  Here  was  a  great  "  rise  "  on 
the  General,  and  he  wanted  to  see  how  the  Gen- 
eral would  take  it. 

"  I  thought  that  this  might  interest  you,"  he  said, 
as  he  laid  the  message  on  the  desk  of  the  Patient 
and  Well-Abused  One.  "  One  of  my  young  men 
has  captured  as  many  rifles  as  your  whole  corps  has 
taken  in  a  month." 

"  More  of  your  mischief !  More  trouble  for  me," 
said  the  General.  "  The  insurgents  have  a  thou- 
sand Mausers  in  the  Province  of  Durinao." 

"  Well,  did  you  expect  a  boy  with  an  oyster-shell 
and  a  crew  of  eight,  just  because  he  was  in  the  navy, 
to  get  the  whole  thousand?  " 

"  No.  I  expect  the  navy  to  patrol  the  coast,  not 
to  tie  up  to  the  shore.  If  your  ensigns  want  to  en- 
list in  the  army,  our  recruiting  office  is  open.  I 

40 


BALLARD 

hadn't  intended  to  put  a  single  garrison  in  Northern 
Mindanao  till  next  year  or  to  touch  Durinao  till  I 
could  put  ashore  a  regiment  or  at  least  a  battalion. 
I  won't  send  a  man,  not  a  man !  I  can't  spare  one. 
It's  as  easy  for  you  to  get  out  as  it  was  to  get  in." 

"  Very  good.  I'll  cable  home  to  the  Depart- 
ment that  the  navy  having  taken  the  place,  we've 
got  to  pull  the  flag  down  because  you  won't  oc- 
cupy it !  " 

"Well?" 

"Well!" 

Father  Walrus  and  Father  Bear  looked  hard  at 
each  other.  They  had  fought  in  a  war  that  lasted 
through  more  than  one  summer.  The  giving  and 
the  receiving  of  hard  knocks  was  wine  to  the  menu 
of  their  routine  work.  Whenever  they  met  they 
wiped  off  their  slates  with  an  exchange  of  amenities 
which  were  purely  a  family  matter,  not  at  all  for 
publication.  You  must  not  think,  however,  that 
each  did  not  have  a  high  regard  for  the  other  as  a 
"  good  one  "  who  stood  up  for  his  Service. 

"  Well?  "  repeated  the  Walrus. 

"  Oh,  I  suppose  that  I'll  have  to  pull  you  out  of 
your  scrape.  But  you  must  help  yourself  a  little. 
If  you'll  detach  fifteen  or  twenty  marines  from 
some  of  your  ships  around  Cebu  and  send  them 


THE   WAYS   OF  THE   SERVICE 

down  on  the  Avispa,  I'll  despatch  the  Idaho  (a  trans- 
port) in  a  week  with  a  battalion." 

The  Admiral  agreed  to  this;  and  he  was  conscious 
of  having  spent  a  delightful  morning. 

Meanwhile,  Ballard  had  had  quite  enough  ex- 
citement to  keep  his  mind  off  his  malady.  In  dis- 
arming the  prisoners  and  marching  them  up  the 
avenue,  overhung  with  thick  foliage  of  mango-trees, 
which  led  to  the  square,  Rodriguez  and  Swanson 
acted  as  masters  of  ceremonies.  It  would  be  super- 
fluous to  mention  that  Swanson  bore  himself 
proudly.  His  pride,  however,  could  not  approach 
that  of  the  portly  Rodriguez,  who  had  all  the  at- 
tributes of  his  everyday  grandeur  as  a  basis  to  swell 
upon. 

When  Ballard  had  dismissed  the  manikins  with 
a  warning  to  go  and  sin  no  more,  he  sent  Rodriguez 
on  a  hunt  for  information  among  the  natives.  Then 
came  the  problem  of  quarters  for  his  men  and  of 
storage  for  the  captured  rifles.  He  turned  toward 
a  building,  occupying  one  side  of  the  plaza,  which 
was  ridiculously  large  for  the  size  of  the  town. 

"  That,  I  suppose,  is  the  Presidencia,"  he  said  to 
the  Presidente,  whom  he  had  kept  at  his  elbow. 

"  No.     Pardon,  the  Presidencia  is  there." 
42 


BALLARD 

"  Then  what  is  this  grand  house?  "  Ballard  asked. 
"  Perhaps  it  will  make  even  better  quarters  for  the 
men." 

"  Ah,  as  you  will,  Senor  Capitan,"  was  the  reply. 
"  It  is  a  private  residence.  I  fear,  Capitan,  I  fear 
that  it  is  not  suitable.  We  will  enter  and  you  shall 
see  for  yourself.  You  know  best,  Senor." 

Ballard  was,  indeed,  little  prepared  for  what  fol- 
lowed. In  answer  to  the  Presidente's  knock,  a 
Moro,  wearing  a  red  turban  and  an  ivory-handled 
kris  thrust  in  his  sash  of  yellow  silk,  admitted  them 
into  a  hall  which  was  of  the  usual  bare  type  of 
houses  of  Spaniards  or  well-to-do  Filipinos.  He 
led  them  up  the  stairs,  where  he  drew  back  a  hang- 
ing for  them  to  enter  the  main  apartment  which 
was  in  darkness.  There  they  waited  a  moment 
while  he  pushed  back  the  big  sliding  shutters. 

As  the  aggressive  tropical  light  burst  in,  Ballard 
involuntarily  started  in  surprise.  Nor  did  his  swift 
first  impression  prepare  him  for  the  details  of  lux- 
urious furnishings  of  a  room  whose  dimensions 
were  at  least  forty  by  sixty.  He  was  attracted  by 
a  grand  piano  strewn  with  music,  and  then  by  a 
dozen  antique  Chinese  and  Japanese  vases  stand- 
ing in  the  corners  and  by  the  doorways  which  were 
screened  by  hangings  of  mandarin  silk.  The  floor 

43 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

was  of  slabs  of  polished  Molave,  two  feet  in  breadth. 
On  the  broad  arm  of  the  long  chair  beside  the  cen- 
tre-table was  a  little  paper-knife  of  mother-of-pearl, 
such  as  women  use;  and  on  the  foot  of  the  chair  was 
an  open  book,  with  the  back  up,  as  if  to  keep  the 
place  where  the  reader  had  left  off  when  called  away. 
Ballard  picked  it  up.  It  was  "  Madame  Chrysan- 
theme."  One  of  the  two  books  on  the  table  was 
"  The  Seven  Seas,"  the  other  a  dictionary  of  Span- 
ish and  English.  The  education  and  catholicity  of 
taste  thus  suggested  were  even  more  surprising 
than  the  furnishings. 

"Who  reads  French  and  English?"  he  asked, 
keen  with  curiosity. 

"  Oh,  Sefiorita  Varkoff,  of  course,"  was  the  reply. 

"  Who  owns  the  house?  " 

"  Sefiorita  Varkoff,  now  that  her  father  is 
dead!" 

"Where  is  she?" 

"  In  the  country,  I  believe,  Senor  Capitan." 

"When  did  she  go?" 

"  I  cannot  say.  I  think  she  went  when  she  saw 
your  gun-boat  coming." 

"  Then  she  is  an  insurrecto?  " 

"  Her  brother  is.  As  for  her,  she  is  a  woman, 
Senor  Capitan — such  a  woman !  Such  a  woman !  " 

44 


BALLARD 

While  he  was  asking  these  questions  Ballard  had 
been  looking  at  the  paintings  on  the  walls.  Some 
bore  French  names  with  which  he  was  familiar; 
others  Spanish  names  with  which  he  was  unfamiliar. 
One  in  particular  attracted  his  attention.  The 
scene  was  laid,  clearly  enough,  in  the  tropics.  It 
represented  a  great  bungalow,  surrounded  by 
palms,  on  a  rampart  by  the  sea. 

"  La  Nidada,  the  Varkoff  country-place,  about 
fifteen  miles  out,  painted  by  the  Sefiorita  herself," 
the  Presidente  explained. 

"  Painting !  French  !  English !  Where  did  she 
learn?" 

"  In  Europe,  in  Paris,"  said  the  Presidente,  as  if 
the  two  were  much  the  same  thing.  "  They  went 
to  Japan,  often.  They  have  a  house  in  the  hills 
there,  too.  She  was  in  Europe  four  years." 

"  Why  wouldn't  he  go  back?  Why  did  he  come 
to  Mindanao?  "  Ballard  demanded. 

The  Presidente  shrugged  his  shoulders.  Si,  he 
shrugged  them  twice,  smiling  with  the  second 
shrug,  which  meant  that  there  was  mystery  but  not 
all  was  mystery. 

"  The  father,  half  Russian,  half  Spaniard,  came 
here  with  money — oh,  many  years  ago.  He  mar- 
ried a  Filipino  lady — a  beautiful  devil  of  a  woman, 

45 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

Senor  Capitan!  He  came  for  a  reason.  What 
reason?  Only  one  man  ever  asked  him.  That  was 
the  Spanish  Governor.  In  a  month  after  he  had 
asked  he  was  recalled  to  Spain.  Then  Senor  Varkoff 
became  ruler  of  Mindanao  by  appointment  from 
the  crown,  as  he  was  already  in  fact.  He  owned 
two-thirds  of  the  hemp  grown  here;  he  had  gold 
mines  in  the  interior,  worked  and  guarded  by  his 
own  men.  He  owned  sugar  plantations  in  Negros 
and  pearl  fisheries  in  the  Sulus.  Millions  of  pesos! 
millions ! " 

Ballard  followed  the  Presidente  through  many 
equally  well-furnished  chambers  and  back  again  to 
the  broad  veranda  at  the  rear  of  the  house.  At 
this  hour  it  was  screened  by  heavy  mattings,  but  it 
was  easy  to  see  how  cool  and  pleasant  it  would  be 
in  the  evening  or  the  late  afternoon,  when  the  sun 
was  still  fierce  upon  the  plaza,  to  recline  here  look- 
ing out  over  a  setting-sun-lit  or  a  moon-lit  sea. 

"  No.  I  will  not  disturb  this,"  Ballard  remarked, 
finally. 

So  the  rifles  were  tied  in  lots  of  four  and  piled 
in  the  Presidencia.  The  Presidente  was  told  that 
he  might  go  to  his  residence,  while  Ballard  pre- 
pared to  occupy  a  room  in  the  Presidencia  and  his 
men  arranged  their  kits  in  the  others.  This  was  no 

46 


BALLARD 

sooner  accomplished  than  the  pilot  appeared,  fairly 
oozing  information  from  his  perspiring  pores. 

"  I  can  make  you  very  happy,"  he  said,  with  the 
sweeping  gesture  of  a  cook  who  in  person  places  his 
masterpiece  upon  the  table.  "  I  have  news  that 
we  shall  be  attacked  before  the  day  is  over.  The 
insurgents  outside  know  by  runners  by  this  time 
that  we  have  taken  the  town." 

To  Ballard  the  prospect  was  now  serious.  It  in- 
volved a  great  risk  to  his  men,  for  which,  in  that  he 
had  exceeded  the  spirit  of  his  instructions,  he  held 
himself  directly  responsible.  He  gave  the  pilot  no 
time  for  further  words,  but  sent  him  (with  the  flag 
which  Swanson  was  about  to  raise)  to  the  church 
tower  to  report  if  the  enemy  was  yet  in  sight.  Two 
jackies  were  told  to  bring  back  the  Presidente. 
The  rest  were  set  to  carrying  the  rifles  and  supplies 
into  the  plaza;  for,  whatever  scheme  of  defence  he 
might  devise,  it  was  plain  that  he  could  not  make  a 
stand  in  the  Presidencia,  whose  walls  were  no 
thicker  than  those  of  a  dry-goods  box.  The  Presi- 
dente, fleeing  from  his  own  house,  was  detained  by 
a  shot  over  his  head.  He  came  before  Ballard, 
carrying,  in  one  trembling  hand,  a  red  cotton  hand- 
kerchief full  of  jewelry  and  trinkets,  and  in  the 
other,  an  ornate  onyx  clock  of  German  make. 

47 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

"  Ah,  Sefior  Capitan,"  he  said,  "  it  was  most  fort- 
unate that  your  men  did  not  hit  me,  for  now  I  can 
explain.  I  was  only  in  chase  of  a  thieving  ser- 
vant." 

"  And  these  things  in  your  hands?  " 

"  Why,  Senor  Capitan,  I  caught  the  servant  and 
had  not  yet  returned  to  the  house  when  you 
honored  me  with  your  message." 

"  Well,  you  may  remain  here  under  our  protec- 
tion and  answer — answer  honestly,  mind — any 
questions  I  ask  you;  or  you  may  go  your  way." 

"  My  friends  will  be  so  worried.  I  think  I  will 
return  to  them." 

"  Very  well." 

Then,  having  learned  already  that  the  most  strik- 
ing of  a  white  man's  peculiarities  is  the  honor  of  his 
spoken  word,  he  asked  if  he  might  leave  his  valu- 
ables with  the  Ensign.  Ballard  nodded. 

"  I  will  come  for  them  when  we  have  done  fight- 
ing," he  said. 

He  laid  them  at  Ballard's  feet  and  ran  out  of  the 
square. 

By  this  time  Rodriguez  called  from  the  church 
tower  that  no  enemy  was  in  sight. 

"  But  they'll  come !  I  know  they'll  come,"  he 
added. 

48 


BALLARD 

The  Presidente's  action  assured  this,  Ballard 
thought. 

A  Spanish  force  under  such  circumstances 
would  have  taken  to  the  church,  as  a  matter  of 
course.  A  vigorous  young  people,  however,  in- 
stinctively assumes  the  offensive.  Ballard's  first 
idea  was  to  go  out  to  meet  the  insurgents.  But 
more  than  one  road  ran  from  Durinao  into  the  in- 
terior. If  he  put  four  men  out  as  points  he  had  a 
reserve  force  of  four.  Without  firing  a  shot,  the 
enemy  could  easily  surround  him  and  finish  him 
leisurely. 

His  next  plan  was  to  fall  back  upon  a  finger  of 
beach  which  was  fortified  by  the  sea  on  three  sides. 
He  could  mount  the  Colt  in  an  embrasure  of  sand- 
bags, and  he  could  build  an  earthwork  from  shore 
to  shore.  Thus  his  men  would  be  under  cover  and 
have  a  clear  field  for  their  fire  upon  the  only  side 
by  which  the  enemy  could  advance  to  the  attack. 
With  the  captured  Mausers  arranged  in  stationary 
positions,  ten  rifles  to  each  man,  his  crew  could 
open  up  with  volleys  before  settling  down  to  accu- 
rate fire  with  their  own  pieces.  However,  this — 
and  here  he  faltered  as  one  who  feels  himself 
tempted  by  sentiment — was  putting  himself  wholly 
on  the  defensive;  giving  up  the  town  entirely  and 

49 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

pulling  down  the  flag  which  now  floated  over  the 
tower. 

His  decision  was  cast  for  him  by  a  shout  from 
Rodriguez,  who  announced  the  approach  of  a 
column  of  insurgents  about  two  miles  distant. 
There  was,  then,  no  time  to  go  to  the  beach.  He 
told  the  men  to  carry  their  arms  and  supplies  into 
the  church.  Then  he  ran  around  the  great  pile  of 
stone  which  was  to  be  his  fort.  Connected  with  the 
church  in  the  rear  was  a  monastery,  lighted  entirely 
from  the  roof,  except  for  numerous  loopholes  ten 
feet  above  the  ground  and  too  narrow  to  admit  of 
the  passage  of  a  man's  body.  The  wooden  veran- 
da where  the  friars  sat  in  the  cool  of  the  evening 
was  only  a  counterfeit  of  peace  and  hospitality;  for 
the  single  great  door  was  of  heavy  hard  wood,  iron 
barred.  A  storming  party  must  enter  by  the  door 
of  the  church  itself.  Returning  to  this,  he  called  to 
the  pilot  for  the  latest  news. 

"  They  are  on  both  roads  now,  and  spreading 
out,"  was  the  reply.  "  The  inhabitants  are  in  the 
long  grass  expecting  a  combat." 

Inside  the  auditorium  he  saw  shrines  and  images 
once  ornamented  with  silver  and  draped  with  silk, 
stripped  by  the  natives,  whose  glebe  had  bought 
them,  now  become  sceptics  and  vandals.  They  had 

50 


BALLARD 

smashed  the  stained  glass  in  places,  allowing 
streams  of  pure  daylight  to  fall  upon  the  stone 
floor  side  by  side  with  the  tints  in  contorted  shad- 
ows. He  passed  on  back  of  the  altar,  where  a  small 
door,  through  a  thick  wall,  led  into  the  monastery. 
Here,  apparently,  the  priests  had  lived  among 
beautiful  surroundings  if  not  in  luxury.  Furniture 
was  smashed,  paintings  of  the  saints  were  torn  in 
strips  and  thrown  on  the  floor. 

Then,  satisfied  that  he  could  be  attacked  by  the 
door  alone,  with  his  own  hands  he  assisted  the 
jackies  in  building  a  barricade  in  front  of  it.  They 
were  hastened  in  their  labor  by  the  occasional  calls 
of  Rodriguez  that  the  enemy,  which  he  estimated 
at  four  hundred,  was  slowly  creeping  in.  Before 
dusk,  the  last  stone  needed  had  been  wrenched  from 
the  floor  and  was  in  position. 

Ballard  feared  an  attack  by  night  more  than  one 
by  day.  He  himself  kept  watch.  There  was  a 
scattering  fire  until  midnight  and  then  silence  until 
an  hour  before  dawn,  when  from  the  windows,  the 
roofs  and  the  corners  of  the  houses,  except  the 
Sefiorita's,  and  from  all  sides  of  the  plaza  burst 
flashes  of  rifle  fire,  while  bullets  went  whistling 
through  the  open  door  and  spat  against  the  wall. 
Ballard  called  to  the  men,  who  awakened  with  a 

5* 


THE   WAYS  OF  THE  SERVICE 

start  and  sprang  to  their  feet,  not  to  expose  them- 
selves in  getting  to  their  positions  and  to  keep  down 
until  he  gave  the  word. 

"  Let  them  come !  They  bark  before  they  bite ! 
If  they  weren't  fools  they  would  rush  us  in  the 
silence  with  the  bayonet.  Let  them  come !  They 
are  hungry !  We  will  feed  them  with  lead !  " 

It  was  the  big  voice  of  the  same  portly  figure  that 
had  hidden  in  the  hold  of  the  Avispa  which  spoke. 
Rodriguez  had  stepped  back  three  centuries.  The 
spirit  of  the  Cafe  Vagabundo  had  passed  out  of  him. 
In  its  place  had  come  the  spirit  of  the  ancestors  who 
had  landed  upon  unknown  shores  with  the  same 
fearlessness  that  they  set  out  upon  unknown  seas 
in  vessels  far  more  frail  than  those  which  now  hug 
well-charted  harbors  in  a  coastwise  trade. 

If  some  of  the  insurgents  gathered  under  the 
eaves  on  either  side  of  the  door,  prepared  to  pour  in 
at  close  quarters  where  numbers  count,  as  soon 
as  the  rifles  of  the  others  had  opened  the  way, 
Ballard  knew  that  he  could  not  hold  them  back. 
Had  they?  He  must  know.  In  the  face  of  the  fire 
which  lighted  the  plaza,  he  jumped  upon  the  barri- 
cade, peered  to  right  and  left,  and  fell  back  without 
having  been  hit  and  with  his  worst  fears  dispelled. 
No  answering  shot  to  the  continuing  fusillade  came 

52 


BALLARD 

from  the  church.  Ballard  knelt  behind  his  beloved 
Colt,  which  was  in  the  centre  of  the  barricade.  On 
his  right  were  Boatswain  Swanson  and  a  jacky;  on 
his  left,  two  jackies — all  with  bayonets  fixed.  Rod- 
riguez and  the  rest  of  the  crew  were  in  the  gallery 
above,  which  ran  all  the  way  around  the  interior  of 
the  church,  their  rifles  resting  in  the  loopholes 
which  the  friars  had  designed  for  the  specific  need 
now  at  hand. 

Thus  they  waited,  until,  upon  the  sound  of  the 
bugle,  the  firing  stopped.  Then  they  rose  to  the 
task  which  they  knew  was  before  them.  From  the 
cover  of  the  houses  on  all  sides  of  the  square  broke 
a  swarm  of  figures,  indistinct  in  the  moonlight.  In 
no  danger  of  being  hit,  the  problem  was,  whether 
or  not  Ballard  and  his  men  could  turn  the  flood  of 
humanity  before  it  broke  into  the  door  and  over- 
whelmed them.  Not  one  of  the  manikins  had  to 
run  over  two  hundred  yards;  some  only  a  hundred. 
Ballard  let  the  Colt  play  to  the  limit  of  the  risk  of 
jamming  it.  Many  of  the  figures  were  falling. 
Many  kept  on.  Within  twenty,  within  ten  yards 
they  approached,  until  five  or  six  in  the  van,  with  a 
score  directly  behind  them,  were  in  the  doorway. 
One  leaped  upon  the  barricade.  Swanson's  bayonet 
swung  him  over  on  to  the  floor  in  a  half  circle  as  if 

53 


THE   WAYS  OF   THE   SERVICE 

he  were  on  a  spit.  The  second  met  the  same  fate. 
Ballard  was  conscious  only  that  others  were  mount- 
ing on  either  side  of  him.  The  Colt  alone  con- 
tinued firing.  It  must  not  stop,  for  it  was  the 
thread  upon  which  hung  their  lives.  From  side  to 
side  he  swung  it  as  it  breathed  flashes  into  the  dark- 
ness in  quick  gasps.  Those  who  were  charging 
heard  no  cries  of  triumph  from  inside  the  church, 
or,  indeed,  the  scuffle  of  hand-to-hand  conflict. 
Upon  the  point  of  winning,  they  gave  up  the 
fight  and  ran  to  the  cover  of  the  walls  of  the 
church. 

Swanson,  except  for  a  slash  in  the  cheek,  was 
quite  whole.  His  first  care,  when  resistance  was 
over,  was  to  disarm  the  Filipinos  who  were  still 
alive.  Two  of  the  jackies  were  badly  cut,  but  said 
that  with  patching  they  could  handle  a  rifle  "  all 
right,  all  right."  One  of  them,  who  had  run  away 
from  the  farm  to  the  sea,  remarked : 

"  That  was  like  mowing  away  hay  in  the  far 
corner  of  the  loft  when  the  forkfuls  are  coming  too 
fast." 

From  the  balcony  the  big  voice  called  down : 

"  We  know  how,  don't  we?  " 

Dawn  showed  forty  or  fifty  dead  and  groaning 
wounded  in  the  square.  There  were  fifteen  in  the 

54 


BALLARD 

church.  Ballard,  with  the  instinct  of  the  Service, 
felt  that  he  had  taken  part  in  a  butchery,  not  in  a 
fight.  Shortly  after  dawn  two  insurgents  crept 
fearfully  out  to  one  of  the  wounded  who  lay  near 
the  Presidencia.  When  they  had  moved  him  with- 
out being  fired  on,  they  went  after  another.  Bal- 
lard jumped  upon  the  barricade  and  called  to  them 
to  go  on.  In  the  course  of  the  forenoon  they 
carried  away  all  their  wounded,  leaving  on  the  field 
a  score  of  motionless  figures  who  had  dashed  for- 
ward with  the  certainty  of  triumph  over  an  enemy 
who  had  not  even  returned  their  fire,  only  to  be 
mowed  down  remorselessly  by  the  invention  of  a 
man  in  a  shop  in  the  North  Temperate  zone.  Dur- 
ing the  afternoon  these  and  the  dead  in  the  church 
were  carried  away,  white  men  and  brown  men 
working  in  silence  at  the  task. 

Rodriguez  was  unusually  quiet.  He  sat  with  his 
head  in  his  hands  much  of  the  time.  Asked  if  he 
was  ill,  he  replied  that  he  was  not,  but  that  he  was 
making  a  resolution.  When,  toward  evening,  he 
went  to  Ballard,  it  was  apparent  that  he  had  to  re- 
lieve his  mind  of  a  weighty  decision. 

"  I  love  Spain,"  he  began  with  a  sigh.  "  I  love 
my  own  Catalonia  even  better.  But — oof!  They 
talk  too  much.  They  talk  against  the  Govern- 

55 


THE  WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

ment;  the  Government  talks  back.  They  all  shout 
the  politique  in  the  cafes  and  build  rotten  ships. 
You  say  d — n  the  politique;  let's  look  to  the  ships! 
I  have  found  it  so  easy  to  do  things  that — yes,  as 
much  as  I  love  Catalonia — I  am  going  to  be  an 
American  citizen." 

And  thus  another  of  one  of  the  old  peoples  be- 
came one  of  the  young,  vigorous  people. 

So  confident  was  Ballard  that  the  natives  would 
not  attack  again  before  the  Avispa  returned  that 
he  made  everyone  lie  down  for  the  night.  He  bore 
watch  until  twelve  and  then  called  a  jacky  to  take 
his  place.  After  a  fitful  sleep  he  awakened  at  day- 
light. When  he  stepped  upon  the  barricade  to 
look  around  he  had  a  vision  of  colored  turbans  and 
sashes  hugging  the  wall  on  either  side  of  the  door. 
He  fell  back  just  in  time  to  escape  a  knife  which 
was  hurled  at  him  by  a  strong  and  skilled  hand. 
With  a  shout  to  awaken  the  sleepers,  he  grasped  a 
rifle,  fully  expecting  that  in  the  next  instant  he  and 
his  little  force  would  be  engaged  in  their  last  strug- 
gle. His  fears  were  mocked  by  absolute  silence 
on  the  outside.  Evidently  the  Moros  were  not  yet 
ready  for  the  onslaught  and  were  unwittingly  giv- 
ing the  defenders  breathing  space  and  time  to  for- 
mulate new  measures  of  defence. 

56 


BALLARD 

"  These  are  her  people,"  said  Rodriguez,  "  the 
Senorita  Varkoff's.  Those  we  fought  yesterday 
were  residents  of  the  seaboard,  who  have  emigrated 
from  the  Visayas.  These  are  natives  of  the  interior, 
Mohammedans.  They  did  not  shout.  They  crept 
up  softly  like  the  savage  and  the  wolf.  They  will 
pour  in  on  us  in  a  flood,  and  are  not  afraid  to  die. 
I  do  not  want  to  be  up  in  the  gallery  and  killed  like 
a  rat  in  a  hole.  I  want  to  be  here  with  you  and 
Swanson  in  the  thick  of  it  while  it  lasts." 

"  No.  We  don't  propose  to  be  massacred  yet," 
Ballard  replied.  "  We  shall  have  merely  to  fall 
back  on  our  second  line  of  defence.  With  the  Colt 
and  the  rifles  in  the  rear  of  the  gallery  we  can  throw 
a  spray  of  bullets  into  the  doorway,  while  Swanson, 
who  is  a  good  shot,  will  pick  off  any  who  might  get 
on  to  the  stair.  The  more  that  come  the  more 
quickly  will  they  be  served." 

"  Of  course,  of  course !  "  Rodriguez  exclaimed. 
"  Of  course  you  would  find  a  way !  I  forgot  for  a 
moment  that  I  was  no  longer  a  Spaniard." 

While  the  Colt  was  being  transferred,  the  door 
was  covered  by  rifles  from  the  rear  of  the  gallery. 
For  an  hour  they  waited,  expecting  every  minute  to 
see  flashing  knives  and  struggling  figures  bulking 
the  doorway,  and  then  the  silence  was  broken  by  a 

57 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

call  from  Rodriguez,  who  was  peering  through  one 
of  the  loopholes  into  the  square. 

"  There's  somebody  coming  with  a  white  flag ! 
It's  a  woman!  It  must  be  the  Senorita  Var- 
koff." 

Ballard  hastened  along  the  gallery  and  down  the 
stairs.  She  reached  the  doorway  just  as  he  leaped 
upon  the  barricade.  He  had  expected  to  see  a 
mestizo,,  but  only  the  trained  eye  of  one  who  had 
lived  long  in  the  Philippines  would  have  discerned 
from  her  face  that  there  was  native  blood  in  her 
veins.  Her  beauty,  if  she  were  beautiful — that  re- 
mained until  the  end  a  question  with  Ballard — had 
none  of  the  languor  of  the  full-blooded  or  of  the 
half-breed  Spaniard.  Charm,  which  is  so  different 
from  beauty,  she  possessed  in  every  pose.  She  was 
tall  and  slim,  yet  the  native  gown  which  she  wore 
revealed  in  the  fine  shoulders  and  neck  the  legacy 
of  an  ancestry  that  carried  burdens  on  their  heads. 
She  did  not  make  a  deep  courtesy  of  the  mestizo, 
kind,  but  nodded  with  the  ease  that  is  sure  of  itself. 

"  I  have  come  to  save  your  life,"  she  said  in 
English. 

"  That  is  very  kind  of  you — if  we  needed  your 
assistance." 

As  he  stepped  down  from  the  barricade  he  saw 
58 


BALLARD 

that  the  Moros,  who  had  been  lying  under  the 
eaves,  had  risen  and  stood  deferentially  facing  her. 

"  Oh.  Then  you  think  you  can  defend  your- 
self? "  she  said,  leaning  forward,  shading  her  eyes 
with  her  hand  and  peering  into  the  church. 

"  Certainly." 

"  So  you  have  your  gun  in  the  gallery,"  she  went 
on.  "  I  see !  That  is  very  clever,  quite  worthy  of 
the  man  who  made  himself  a  target  for  a  hundred 
men.  And  it  is  also  futile." 

'  You  have  come  here  to  get  information  about 
our  defences — Is  that  your  mission?  If  it  is " 

"  It  is  not,"  she  replied,  indignantly.  "  If  you  will 
step  around  the  church  where  we  can  see  the  roof 
of  the  monastery  you  will  find  that  I  am  your  friend 
and  not  your  enemy." 

She  started,  expecting  him  to  follow  her.  He 
hesitated  to  put  himself  so  far  in  her  power.  Divin- 
ing his  thought  she  added,  a  little  contemptuously : 

"  If  you  fear  foul  play  you  might  cover  me  with 
your  revolver." 

At  this  he  laughed  and  accompanied  her  to  the 
road  which  ran  in  front  of  the  Presidencia  and  past 
the  church.  There  were  fifty  Moros  upon  the  roof 
of  the  monastery.  Even  as  he  looked  one  dropped 
on  to  it  from  the  overhanging  branches  of  a  mango 

59 


THE  WAYS  OF  THE  SERVICE 

tree,  more  in  the  fashion  of  a  monkey  than  of  a 
man. 

"  This  is  why  they  delayed  attacking ! "  he  ex- 
claimed. 

"  Yes,  and  to-night  at  the  same  time  that  they 
pour  into  the  church  door  they  will  also  break  in 
the  monastery  door  and  rush  down  the  belfry." 

"  We  shall  be  ready  for  them,"  he  replied. 

She  threw  back  her  head  with  a  little  laugh.  His 
assurance  in  the  face  of  the  inevitable  pleased  her. 

"  And  now  that  you  have  shown  me  how  strong 
you  are,  I  suppose  you  have  in  view  some  considera- 
tion for  which  you  will  raise  the  siege?  " 

If  he  spoke  nonchalantly,  he  none  the  less  real- 
ized that  the  life  of  his  crew  hung  upon  her  reply. 
With  twenty  men  he  might,  but  with  eight  he  could 
conceive  of  no  disposition  by  which  he  could  hold 
the  church  until  the  Avispa  returned. 

"  Yes,  I  have,"  she  answered.  "  The  only  con- 
sideration is  that  you  will  not  fire  on  the  besiegers 
as  they  depart.  Will  you?  " 

"  I  will  not,"  he  replied  earnestly. 

She  called  to  one  of  the  Moros  who  seemed  to  be 
a  chief.  He  listened  respectfully  to  an  argument 
of  some  length  in  his  own  tongue,  and  then,  in  turn, 
harangued  his  followers.  Without  order  and  with- 

60 


BALLARD 

out  comment,  as  silently  as  they  had  come,  they 
moved  out  into  the  square  and  toward  the  country. 
It  was  hard  for  Ballard  to  believe  that  he  was  not 
witnessing  a  scene  from  the  Arabian  Nights. 

"  You  see  I  didn't  come  to  take  advantage,"  said 
the  Senorita.  "  You  will  find  no  armed  men  in  the 
town  now  and  the  natives  will  return  to  their  homes. 
Good-afternoon." 

Bowing,  she  turned  and  walked  toward  her 
house,  while  Ballard,  sauntering,  in  pace  with  his 
mood,  to  the  church  door,  reverted  to  the  charac- 
terization by  the  Presidente : 

"  Such  a  woman !    Such  a  woman  1 " 


61 


IV 

As  the  Senorita  had  promised,  the  inhabitants 
were  soon  returning  to  town.  After  a  day  chiefly 
occupied  in  making  rules  for  their  government  and 
reading  over  the  records  in  the  Presidencia,  Ballard 
wrote  for  two  hours  in  his  journal  to  Margaret 
about  the  events  of  the  siege  with  all  the  enthusiasm 
of  the  moments  when  his  illusion,  as  he  had  come  to 
call  it,  was  complete.  He  described  the  Senorita 
and  her  palace  and  told  what  he  knew  of  her  history, 
closing  the  account  of  the  events  of  the  morning 
with  his  conviction  that  she  had  saved  the  lives  of 
himself  and  his  garrison.  For  the  first  time  since 
he  had  left  Cavite  he  slept  soundly,  making  up  for 
the  lost  hours,  recuperating  from  the  strain  of  the 
last  two  days  with  faculties  lulled  by  reaction,  until 
at  noon  he  was  awakened  by  Swanson,  who  re- 
ported that  the  Avispa,  accompanied  by  another  of 
the  mosquito  fleet,  was  in  sight. 

"  Well,  you  did  drive  her !  "  he  called  to  the  Babe, 
as  the  gun-boat,  her  decks  crowded  with  marines, 
ran  alongside  the  pier. 

62 


BALLARD 

"  Drove,  and  threatened,  and  coaxed,  and  chas- 
tised," was  the  reply.  "  In  an  hour  after  word  came 
we  had  the  marines  off  the  Memphis  which  was  at 
Cebu.  The  Admiral  sent  the  Sulu  along  to  bring 
back  news  to  the  cable  about  how  you  are  getting 
on.  There's  an  army  transport  due  in  a  week.  But 
here's  his  message." 

The  instructions  began  with :  "  That's  right.  I 
said  not  to  ask  questions,  but  to  go  ahead."  As  the 
marines  were  marched  up  to  the  plaza,  Ballard  had 
to  relate  to  the  Babe  and  his  fellow-classman  com- 
manding the  Sulu  what  had  happened  in  the  Babe's 
absence.  They  looked  as  interested  and  as  sad  as 
if  they  had  missed  the  only  opportunity  that  the 
navy  would  have  for  a  century.  After  settling  the 
marines  in  the  Presidencia,  Ballard  wrote  a  message 
to  the  Admiral,  which  occupied  about  two  minutes, 
and  then  a  message  to  Margaret,  which  occupied  a 
half  hour,  with  no  foreboding  of  what  was  soon  to 
come  between  them. 

When  he  had  returned  to  the  pier  and  had  sent 
the  Sulu  on  her  way,  he  saw  the  Seiiorita  coming 
down  the  avenue,  a  parasol  over  her  shoulder.  He 
went  to  meet  her. 

"  I  came  to  look  at  the  Avispa,"  she  said.  "  May 
I?" 

63 


THE  WAYS  OF  THE   SERVICE 

She  seemed  almost  to  forget  his  presence  in  her 
interest  in  the  little  gun-boat. 

"  Those  are  bullet  marks?  "  she  said,  pointing  to 
the  splatters  above  the  water-line  on  the  hull.  "  And 
those  holes  through  the  smoke-stack,  they  were 
made  by  bullets,  too?  " 

"  Every  officer  in  Cebu  came  out  in  bancas  to 
look  at  her !  "  exclaimed  the  Babe.  "  What  they 
couldn't  understand  was  how  none  of  us  was  hit." 

"You  didn't  tell?"  Ballard  asked. 

"  No,  on  my  word  I  didn't.  I  wanted  to,  though. 
I  did  say  that  you  had  some  bullets  through  your 
clothes  and  your  knuckles  skinned." 

"  And  why  not?  Why  not  tell?  "  demanded  the 
Senorita  of  Ballard,  in  the  manner  of  one  who  is 
accustomed  to  have  her  questions  answered. 

"  Oh,  personal  eccentricity.  That's  all,"  he 
replied. 

She  looked  quickly,  keenly  into  his  eyes,  her  lumi- 
nous black  irises  contracting. 

"  No.  Because  you  are  strong,"  she  said  im- 
pulsively. "  It  was  fine  to  do  what  you  did;  finer 
to  shrug  your  shoulders  over  it.  And  you  stood 
there?  "  she  added,  pointing  to  the  stern.  Without 
waiting  for  reply  she  took  up  a  position  in  front  of 
the  six-pounder.  "  Like  this?  "  she  asked. 

64 


BALLARD 

"  Yes,  as  I  remember." 

She  examined  the  guns  for  each  abrasion  of  the 
polish  as  if  it  were  the  clew  to  a  mystery.  Then  she 
looked  at  the  splatters  on  the  hull  and  the  rents  in 
the  smoke-stack  again  before  she  relieved  his  grow- 
ing embarrassment  by  saying  that  she  was  ready  to 
go.  He  accompanied  her  along  the  avenue,  tak- 
ing the  opportunity  to  make  an  apology  for  what 
seemed,  in  the  clearer  view  of  the  morning,  his 
brusqueness  on  the  previous  day. 

"  I  want  to  thank  you  for  saving  the  lives  of  my- 
self and  my  men,"  he  said.  "  For  now  I  am  con- 
vinced that  you  really  did  save  them." 

"  That  is  little — to  use  my  power  to  prevent  you 
from  being  massacred.  Really,  I  am  not  all  a 
savage.  I  owe  you  reparation  for  what  my  brother 
did.  He  sent  the  Moros  to  surround  the  church. 
He  was  the  lieutenant  who  conducted  the  firing 
against  you.  The  brute!  To  take  such  advan- 
tage! If  he  had  only  met  your  suggestion  with 
one  that  the  decision  be  made  by  a  duel.  No,  not 
he!  He  sent  his  poor  men  against  you  the  other 
morning  in  the  square,  but  did  he  lead  them?  No. 
Yet  to  that  you  may  owe  your  safety.  I  told  Koto, 
the  chief  of  the  Moros,  that.  I  asked  him  if  he 
would  fight  for  a  leader  who  did  not  lead.  The 
result  you  saw." 

65 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

"  I  have  certainly  come  into  a  strange  land,"  he 
said. 

"  And  you  regard  me,  I  suppose,  as  one  of  its 
strange  features." 

"  Perhaps,  if  you  look  at  the  matter  in  one  light. 
You  seem  out  of  keeping  with  it." 

"  Both  out  of  keeping  and  in  keeping  with  it.  I 
am  just  half  white.  I  am  not  so  silly  as  to  claim 
more." 

They  were  now  at  the  door  of  her  house.  He 
lifted  his  cap. 

"  This  is  the  hour  when  we  in  the  tropics  live. 
You  are  quite  welcome  if  you  care  to  come  in." 

So  he  entered  with  her.  They  were  admitted  by 
the  same  Moro  who  had  answered  the  Presidente's 
knock  on  the  day  of  Ballard's  landing.  He  pre- 
ceded them  and  raised  the  hangings  which  shut  out 
the  sun  from  the  veranda  by  day.  When  they  were 
seated  there,  looking  out  on  the  sea,  she  said : 

"  You  have  been  in  the  house  before.  You  were 
a  little  surprised  at  its  interior?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  Only  yes.  That  is  good."  She  threw  her  head 
to  one  side.  "  You  make  no  compliment.  If  you 
were  a  Spaniard " 

"  If  it  comes  to  that,  I  might  add "  he  stam- 
mered in  embarrassment. 

66 


BALLARD 

"  No,  don't.     No !     You  wouldn't  mean  it." 
"  Oh,  yes,  I  should.     I  wondered  why  all  these 
furnishings  were  in  Mindanao;  why — pardon  me! 
I  didn't  come  to  ask  questions." 

"  You  wondered  why,  having  money  to  gratify 
my  wishes,  I  should  not  live  abroad?  Why  I 
should  reside  in  Mindanao  when  there  is  no  one 
here  whose  tastes  are  the  same?  I  may  well  wonder 
myself,  for  you  are  the  first  white  man  I  have  seen, 
and  I  have  had  no  books  and  little  news,  since  our 
ports  were  closed  by  your  war  with  Spain.  Why 
should  I  not  regard  you  as  something  of  a  curiosity, 
then?  There  are  times  when  I  feel  as  if  I  were  in 
a  prison;  when  I  long  for  the  city,  the  opera,  the 
theatre,  the  Champs  Elysees — the  white  man's 
realm.  Times  when  I  wish  I  had  accepted  the  ad- 
vice of  my  professor  of  music  who  wanted  me  to 
become  a  professional.  And  then,  how  can  I  re- 
turn alone?  And  if  I  went,  then  my  other  self 
would  put  me  in  prison.  I  should  long  to  be  back 
here.  I  should  long  to  sit  on  the  porch  of  La  Ni- 
dada — my  bungalow — in  the  evening,  knowing  that 
the  plantations  were  mine;  that  the  Moros  obeyed 
my  orders;  that  I  had  here  a  power  which  no  one 
else  can  have.  But  my  father  has  laid  out  the  path 
forme!  My  father!" 

67 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

She  hesitated  a  moment.  Ballard's  intense  in- 
terest, perhaps,  spurred  her  on  to  tell  the  story 
which  had  never  been  related  before  in  Mindanao. 
The  writer  reports  it,  though  it  may  be  a  diversion 
from  the  main  current  of  the  tale,  because  it  throws 
light  on  the  character  of  Maria  Varkoff  and  the 
white  outcasts  who  sojourn  in  the  Far  East  for  rea- 
sons that  they  hold  secret. 

"  My  father,"  she  repeated,  "  not  he,  but  his 
father,  who  married  out  of  his  race,  was  to  blame. 
My  grandfather  was  an  attache  at  the  Russian  Le- 
gation in  Madrid  when  he  married  a  Spanish 
woman,  an  opera  singer.  It  is  from  her,  yes,  and 
from  my  Filipino  mother,  too,  that  I  get  my  love  of 
music.  She  did  not  live  with  him  long  after  her 
two  children  were  born.  At  thirty-five  my  father,  a 
graduate  of  medicine,  was  still  a  student  and  a 
brawler.  I  say  that  he  was  this  at  thirty-five,  be- 
cause then  came  the  passion  and  the  event  which 
changed  everything  for  him.  He  fell  in  love,  and 
for  him  to  fall  in  love,  naturally,  was  to  brook  no 
opposition.  His  rival  for  the  lady's  hand  was  a 
Prince  of  great  influence.  If  he  had  been  the  Czar 
himself  my  father  would  have  challenged  him. 
They  met,  and  the  Prince  was  killed.  Then  my 
father  went  to  the  lady,  as  if  he  had  rid  her  of  a 

68 


BALLARD 

nuisance,  expecting  his  reward.  He  found  that 
she  loved  the  Prince  and  not  him.  She  told  him 
that  there  was  only  one  thing  he  could  do  to  please 
her  and  that  was  to  kill  himself.  If  he  wished,  she 
would  furnish  him  with  a  pistol.  You  open  your 
eyes  incredulously,  Captain.  It  sounds  lurid,  but 
you  are  an  American.  You  live  in  a  world  where 
men  carry  their  feelings  in  their  hearts  and  muffle 
their  hearts'  beatings  with  the  commonplaces  of 
their  tongues.  She  was  a  Russian. 

"  Then  my  father  laughed  at  her.  He  seized  her 
by  the  wrists  and  led  her  to  a  window  where  the 
light  was  strong,  so  that  he  could  look  into  her  face. 
He  told  her  that  if  she  thought  that  he  loved  her 
she  was  a  great  fool.  His  farewell  message  was 
to  gloat  over  the  misery  he  had  brought  her.  Thus 
he  could  fly  from  one  extreme  of  passion  to  another 
as  a  woman  would." 

"  Why  a  woman?  "  Ballard  asked. 

"  Well,  isn't  it  as  a  woman  would  do?  A  man, 
if  he  finds  that  his  affection  is  misplaced,  usually 
sighs  and  slowly  forgets.  A  woman  refuses  to 
think  that  she  has  loved  at  all  and  then  always 
remembers." 

"  Perhaps  as  some  women  would  do,"  he  said, 
keen  upon  the  continuance  of  her  story,  while  he 

69 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

thought,  in  the  practical  way  of  the  Service,  that 
the  mess,  with  a  little  all-round  hazing,  might  have 
made  a  man  of  her  father. 

"  You  think  him  absurd,  ridiculous ! "  she  ex- 
claimed. 

"  I  am  afraid  I  do." 

"  I  think  him  ridiculous  and  terrible  and  master- 
ful," she  continued.  "  But  he  was  my  father.  I  can 
no  more  be  separated  from  him  than  I  can  change 
the  color  of  my  eyes. 

"  My  grandfather  was  face  to  face  with  the  ruin 
of  his  position  and  the  loss  of  his  influence.  He 
saved  my  father  from  punishment  for  the  crime  of 
murder  by  having  him  sent  to  Siberia.  In  their 
last  meeting  he  said  to  my  father: 

"  '  You  will  be  sent  to  Siberia  for  life.  But  you 
will  find  it  easy  to  escape.  At  Shanghai  you  will 
find  a  hundred  thousand  roubles  awaiting  you. 
That  is  all  you  will  ever  receive  from  me,  the  last 
that  you  will  ever  hear  from  me.  In  Russia  you 
have  ceased  to  exist.  May  your  long  tramp  cool 
your  head  and  make  you  realize  what  a  mad  fool 
you  have  been/ 

"  That  sounds  like  fiction.  I  wish  it  were  fiction 
and  not  all  as  real  to  me  as  it  was  to  him.  When 
he  reached  Shanghai  the  hundred  thousand  roubles 

70 


BALLARD 

were  there  as  his  father  had  promised.  For  two 
years  more  he  travelled  back  and  forth,  spending 
his  money  cautiously,  until  he  knew  the  East  from 
Bombay  to  Yokohama  as  well  as  a  white  man  may 
know  it.  Then,  still  shifting  for  an  occupation  to 
his  taste,  not  caring  if  he  never  found  one,  knowing, 
as  he  did,  that  life  is  easily  ended  when  it  has  no  ties 
to  earth  except  its  own,  he  met  one  day  at  Singa- 
pore some  Spanish  officers  who  were  on  their  way 
to  the  Philippines  with  recruits  in  a  trooper.  He 
joined  them.  He  arrived  in  Manila  to  find  that  the 
Governor-General  was  sending  out  one  of  the  many 
expeditions  for  pacifying  the  Moros  of  Mindanao. 
You  know  the  farce  of  those  expeditions.  You 
know  how  the  Spanish  soldiers  died  like  flies  of  fever 
on  their  advance  into  the  interior  and  upon  their 
retreat,  while  the  Governor-General  wrote  de- 
spatches to  his  Government  which  made  him  re- 
ceived as  a  conqueror  by  the  silly  populace  of 
Madrid.  It  was  generous  of  him  to  leave  Min- 
danao as  he  found  it,  so  that  his  successors  for 
generations  to  come  could  win  glory  by  recon- 
quering it. 

"  My  father  was  fascinated  with  Mindanao  from 
the  first.  He  was  amazed,  he  said,  to  find  anywhere 
in  the  world  so  large  an  island  so  little  explored.  A 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

hundred  years  ago  Luzon  was  better  known  than 
Mindanao  is  to-day  if  I  exclude  my  father's  knowl- 
edge— for  he  went  everywhere  in  his  litter.  While 
Borneo  and  Java  were  exploited,  no  one  ever  heard 
of  Mindanao.  The  Moros  came  to  admire  him, 
first  for  his  courage  and  his  success  as  a  fighter. 
Then  he  learned  their  tongue.  He  became  the 
great  chief  of  all  the  dattos.  He  turned  the  jungle 
into  a  garden,  and  when  he  died  he  left  all  his  plan- 
tations to  me,  nothing  to  my  brother. 

"  He  paid  little  attention  to  my  brother  from  the 
first.  I  accompanied  him  on  his  different  jour- 
neys. He  taught  me  how  to  swim,  to  shoot,  to 
ride,  and  all  that  I  learned  out  of  books  before  I 
went  to  Europe.  On  that  journey  he  accompanied 
me  as  far  as  Colombo.  He  would  not  go  through 
the  Canal.  There  we  waited  for  two  months.  Just 
as  I  was  ready  to  start  he  would  find  it  so  hard  to 
leave  me  that  he  would  postpone  my  departure  until 
the  next  week.  Finally,  on  the  day  that  a  steamer 
was  sailing  for  Singapore  and  Manila,  I  found  a 
note  from  him  saying  that  he  was  hurrying  aboard 
it,  for  he  knew  that  to  say  farewell  would  only  mean 
that  he  would  detain  me  longer.  He  could  not  wait 
for  news  from  me  by  post,  so  I  used  to  cable  to  him 
once  a  week.  He  met  me  at  Colombo  upon  my 
return.  His  first  question  was : 

72 


BALLARD 

"  *  Which  do  you  prefer,  to  be  ruled  in  Paris  or  to 
rule  in  Mindanao? ' 

"  I  don't  know  why,  but  I  said,  '  Rule  in  Min- 
danao.' He  seemed  to  be  pleased. 

"  When  the  insurrection  broke  out  in  Cuba  and 
shortly  after  the  rebels  in  Luzon  took  heart  again 
and  began  to  make  headway,  he  would  walk  up  and 
down  the  veranda  of  the  bungalow  and  say : 

"  '  If  I  were  twenty  years  younger  I'd  not  sit 
and  wait,  just  to  protect  my  property.  I'd  join  the 
insurrectionists.  We  could  drive  the  Spaniards 
out.  I  would  become  ruler — yes,  dictator  of  the 
whole  archipelago.  Yes,  and  I  would  hold  my 
place  and  the  independence  of  the  islands.  I  tell 
you  this,  Maria,  but  not  your  brother.  He  might 
tattle  it  to  the  ends  of  the  world.' 

"  Even  then  my  father  was  so  old  that  he  was 
prostrated  if  he  burst  into  a  tirade  or  into  a  fit  of 
rage.  When  he  heard  that  your  country  had  made 
war  on  Spain,  he  said  that  the  islands  would  be 
yours.  I  can  hear  him  now  as  he  cried :  '  American 
pigs !  Spanish  fools ! ' 

During  the  narrative  Ballard  sometimes  found 
himself  looking  at  her  face  to  make  sure  that  it  was 
only  a  girl  who  was  expressing  thoughts  showing 
such  mature  comprehension  of  the  world.  He  now 
interrupted  her. 

73 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

"  Your  property  will  be  protected  as  thoroughly 
as  if  it  were  my  own.  A  part  of  our  own  country- 
men once  rebelled.  We  did  not  confiscate  their 
property.  We  welcomed  them  back  to  the  coun- 
cils of  the  State." 

"  Ah,  that  was  within  your  own  race.  Lions  do 
not  prey  upon  their  own  kind,  though  they  may 
fight  among  themselves.  And  my  brother?  If 
you  capture  him,  what  will  be  his  punishment?  " 

"  We  will  release  him  on  parole." 

"  Oh,  no.  You  only  say  that.  You  are  the  one 
man  in  a  hundred.  You  yourself  perhaps  would 
keep  your  word,  but  not  your  Government.  I 
know!  I  know! " 

"  We  have  been  keeping  our  word  in  Luzon  for 
over  a  year.  Scores  of  generals,  colonels,  and  what 
not  of  the  Filipino  army  are  going  freely  about  the 
streets.  You  read  English.  Perhaps  you  have 
been  in  England.  You  must  have  heard  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  way." 

"  Yes,"  she  replied.  "  Once  I  was  in  England. 
I  was  ill  with  pneumonia — oh,  so  ill !  I  lived  to  get 
out  of  London  because  I  could  not  bear  to  die 
there.  It  was  all  as  they  said  in  Paris — foggy, 
sooty,  chilly;  never  the  light  of  the  sun !  Then,  do 
I  not  know  it?  The  French,  if  they  were  in  your 

74 


BALLARD 

place,  would  they  not  take  our  estates  for  their  own 
spoils — they,  the  conquerors?  And  the  English! 
Are  they  not  worse?  Are  they  not  seizing  the 
whole  world?  And  the  Americans!  Are  they  not 
still  worse?  You  are  so  white,  so  cold,  so  correct! 
You  cannot  be  bribed  as  the  Spaniards  could.  You 
just  seize  and  hold !  " 

"  Then,  at  least,  we  are  honest." 

;<  Yes,  my  father  said  that.  He  said :  *  The  Amer- 
icans are  a  dry  people  who  say  what  they  think 
through  their  noses.  It  is  easy  to  deceive  them 
once,  but  you  cannot  deceive  them  many  times. 
When  they  find  you  out  nothing  will  buy  back  their 
favor — they  are  so  stiff,  unsmiling,  and  dour.  Be 
candid  with  their  governor!  Tell  him  all,  my 
Maria ! ' 

"  Such  a  man  was  my  father.  Such  is  my  posi- 
tion. I  belong  neither  to  Europe  nor  to  Mindanao, 
and  yet  to  both.  I  look  into  white  faces  and  say: 
1  You  are  not  mine ! '  Into  brown  faces  and  say : 
'  You  are  not  mine ! '  I  look  into  the  mirror  and 
say:  'You  alone  are  mine!'  Sometimes  I — " 
she  was  kneading  her  slender  fingers  together  in  a 
little  frenzy  of  agony — "  sometimes  I  talk  too 
much,"  she  added,  and  flew  to  the  piano. 

With  the  first  notes  under  her  skilful  touch  Bal- 
75 


THE  WAYS  OF  THE  SERVICE 

lard  gave  that  start  of  pleasure  and  surprise  of  a 
music-lover  who  has  expected  to  hear  strumming 
and  instead  hears  playing.  He  had  heard  no  good 
music  since  he  came  to  the  Philippines  a  year  be- 
fore, and  he  drew  his  chair  into  a  position  where  he 
could  watch  the  wonderful  play  of  emotions  in  her 
face  in  keeping  with  those  which  she  brought  from 
the  instrument.  She  played  for  an  hour  or  more — 
neither  could  have  told  how  long — as  if  for  her  own 
satisfaction,  as  if  quite  unconscious  of  his  presence, 
until  the  sun  had  set  and  its  last  glow  of  light  was 
being  quickly  dissipated  over  the  sea  by  darkness. 
When  she  stopped,  such  was  her  fatigue  that  she 
leaned  one  hand  upon  the  piano  to  support  herself. 

"  You  like  music,  don't  you?  "  she  exclaimed. 

"  Passionately,"  he  replied,  as  he  rose  to  go. 

"  I  knew  that  you  did  as  soon  as  I  struck  a  few 
notes.  If  you  hadn't  I  should  not  have  played  on. 
It's  the  first  time  I've  had  anyone  sympathetic  to 
play  to  since  my  father's  death.  The  afternoons 
when  he  listened  made  me  forget  his  brutalities  to 
his  people.  Should  you  care  to  come  again,  I  will 
play  for  you  again." 

In  the  succeeding  days  before  the  arrival  of  the 
transport,  when  he  was  not  occupied  with  work, 
which  required  really  only  a  little  of  his  time,  Bal- 

76 


BALLARD 

lard  was  at  the  Senorita's  house.  Upon  the  second 
evening  he  dined  there  quite  alone  with  her,  at 
a  table  with  fine  linen  and  Japanese  china,  and  a 
noiseless  Visayan  as  their  attendant.  As  he  rea- 
soned, she  and  her  piano  had  appeared  as  a  god- 
send, when  diversion  had  become  vital  to  him,  to 
relieve  the  irksomeness  of  garrison  duties  which  his 
sailor's  nature  found  more  wearing  than  an  un- 
eventful cruise. 

Her  charm  grew  upon  him.  In  his  journal  for 
Margaret  he  ceased  to  mention  her  and  spoke  of 
nothing  relating  to  her  except  his  hope  of  getting 
an  insurgent  leader  to  surrender  his  arms. 

Yet  he  did  not  realize  that  he  had  at  all  been 
treading  upon  dangerous  ground  when,  one  even- 
ing, he  found  her  in  a  Parisian  gown  whose  lines 
became  her  supple  figure  far  better  than  the  native 
camisa  or  the  Japanese  kimona  which  she  usually 
wore.  She  recognized  his  pleasurable  surprise. 

"  I  thought  I  would  dress  as  a  foreigner  for  the 
foreigner,"  she  said,  clasping  her  hands,  stretching 
her  arms,  and  dropping  her  head  archly  to  one  side. 

"  You  could  waltz  in  that ! "  he  exclaimed. 
"  Can't  you  waltz — waltz  as  the  French  do,  as  we 
do,  not  in  the  little  nickety  steps  of  the  Filipinos?  " 

"  Yes." 

77 


THE   WAYS  OF   THE   SERVICE 

"  But  we  have  no  one  to  play  the  piano/'  he  said. 

She  replied  by  whistling  adeptly  the  first  bars  of 
a  Strauss  "  Siren,"  and  with  the  next  moment  they 
were  skimming  over  the  hard-wood  floor.  They 
kept  on  and  on,  back  and  forth,  in  the  delight  of 
absolute  harmony  of  step  and  feeling.  He  never 
lifted  his  eyes  from  hers  until,  as  they  came  to  the 
limit  of  their  endurance,  in  his  infatuation  he  seized 
her  in  his  arms  and  kissed  her.  She  screamed  and 
struck  him  in  the  face  with  her  clinched  fist. 

"  It  is  always  that  way  with  you  white  men !  "  she 
cried,  and  dashed  out  of  the  room. 

Ballard  pulled  back  the  hanging,  still  trembling 
from  her  angry  touch,  and  saw  her  on  a  divan,  her 
head  buried  in  the  cushions,  sobbing,  he  thought. 
He  realized  the  pain  and  mortification  to  her  of  the 
construction  she  had  put  upon  his  act. 

"  I  didn't  mean — I  didn't  do  it  out  of — I  did  it 
because — I  apologize.  I  am  a  brute,"  he  said. 

She  made  no  reply,  and  he  left  the  house. 

He  did  not  write  in  his  journal  that  night.  He 
looked  at  the  photograph  of  Margaret  which  held 
the  place  of  honor  in  his  room;  he  thought  of  what 
had  just  passed,  and  he  was  very  much  at  a  loss 
what  to  make  of  himself  except  that  he  had  been 
foolish  and  heartless.  And  he  was  still  in  utter 

78 


BALLARD 

confusion  of  mind  the  next  morning,  when,  to  his 
great  surprise,  the  Senorita  appeared  alone  and  un- 
announced. 

"  You  did  not  expect  me,"  she  said,  "  and  that  is 
why  I  came." 

Then  her  eyes  met  the  eyes  in  the  photograph 
and  she  uttered  a  little  cry  which  she  tried  to  deflect 
into  one  of  amiable  curiosity.  She  picked  up  the 
photograph  and  scanned  it  sharply. 

"  American?  "  she  asked,  recovering  her  poise. 

Ballard  nodded. 

"  You  love  her — love  her  very  much?  " 

He  made  no  reply.  Spellbound,  he  watched  her 
face  which  he  saw  in  profile.  Her  nose  was  of  the 
rare  type  which  has  the  curve  of  that  of  the  tiger, 
the  leopard  and  others  of  the  wildcat  tribe.  Its 
point  was  rising  and  falling  with  her  quick  breaths. 
The  rims  of  the  dilating  nostrils  were  white  with 
passion  which  she  could  not  control. 

"  Give  it  to  me,"  she  demanded  in  answer  to  his 
silence.  "  I  will  tear  it  up !  " 

She  prepared  to  suit  the  action  to  the  word.  In 
contrast  to  this  savagery  was  the  picture  of  one  who 
had  pledged  her  faith  to  him.  Ballard  snatched 
the  photograph  from  her  hand. 

"  No,  you'll  not,"  he  said. 
79 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

She  threw  back  her  head,  laughing,  while  she 
pointed  her  finger  mockingly  at  him. 

"  I  tease  you  a  little  about  your  sweetheart — the 
sweetheart  you  never  talked  about,"  she  said.  Then 
she  turned  to  another  subject  as  if  the  incident  was 
forgotten  with  her  last  word.  "  My  carromata  is 
below,"  she  continued.  "  I  am  going  out  to  my 
bungalow  this  morning.  I  will  try  to  persuade  my 
brother  to  surrender.  I  have  been  candid  with 
you.  If  I  do  not  see  you  again,  I  ask  for  your 
good-will  in  your  report  to  your  Government.  I 
thank  you  for  listening  to  my  music." 

He  recalled  how  brutally  he  had  spoken  to  her 
about  the  photograph.  She  had  saved  his  life,  and 
the  construction  which  she  put  upon  his  act  of  the 
previous  evening  was  her  reward.  He  revolted  at 
a  parting  under  such  circumstances.  Without 
thinking  that  the  transport  was  already  due,  he 
said: 

"  It  is  a  hot,  dusty  ride  in  a  carromata.  I  will 
take  you  in  the  Avispa.  Steam  is  up  and  we  can 
start  at  once." 


80 


ONLY  Mrs.  Gerlison  and  the  General  Command- 
ing knew  everything  that  was  officially  going  on. 
The  General  gave  his  orders  to  the  departmental 
heads  separately,  while  the  departmental  heads  re- 
lated them  separately  and  confidentially  to  Mrs.  Ger- 
lison. Of  course,  she  was  the  first  woman  in  Manila 
to  hear  of  Ballard's  exploit.  Thereupon  she  had 
only  one  mission  in  mind,  until,  bearing  the 
story  in  person,  she  had  made  Margaret  proud  and 
happy.  A  few  days  later  the  transportation  quar- 
termaster told  her  that  the  Idaho  was  not  fitting  out 
for  Mindanao,  as  the  local  papers  announced,  but 
was  to  carry  a  battalion  to  Durinao.  Mrs.  Gerlison, 
who  was  as  judicious  a  dispenser,  as  she  was  a  tal- 
ented gatherer,  of  news,  mentioned  this — as  usual, 
where  it  would  do  the  most  good — to  Margaret. 

Then  Mrs.  Gerlison  made  a  suggestion.  Mar- 
garet cried  joyfully  in  response  that  she'd  like  to, 
she  didn't  think  she  ought  to — it  seemed  so  forward 
— yes,  she  would,  she  would,  she  would !  As  a  re- 
sult, when  the  Idaho  sailed  out  of  the  bay,  her 
destination  still — so  he  supposed — locked  in  the 

81 


THE  WAYS  OF  THE  SERVICE 

Patient  One's  beloved  casket  of  mysteries,  a  young 
woman  and  her  chaperone  were  on  board. 

Just  before  leaving  Manila  Margaret  received  Bal- 
lard's  first  enclosure  from  his  journal.  At  Cebu, 
where  the  Idaho  stopped  for  a  few  hours,  she  re- 
ceived the  second,  with  its  account  of  the  siege  of 
the  church  and  the  part  that  Maria  Varkoff  had 
played  in  his  rescue. 

"  If  for  no  other  reason,"  said  Margaret,  her  heart 
full  of  gratitude,  "  I'm  glad  I  came;  for  I  can  see 
the  Sefiorita  and  thank  her.  And  you  don't  think 
he's  in  any  danger  now,  do  you?  " 

"  For  the  five  hundredth  time,  no,  not  the  least, 
dear,"  Mrs.  Gerlison  replied.  "  And  you  are  the 
same  girl  who  was  sure  two  months  ago  that  she 
didn't  care  particularly  more  for  any  one  man  than 
another? " 

"  Yes,  of  course  I  am.  But  when  I  did  care — 
well,  I  just  cared  hard." 

"As  the  Admiral  says,  having  made  up  your 
mind  to  go  ahead  you  went — that  being  quite  in 
keeping  with  the  ways  of  the  Service." 

When  the  Idaho  sighted  the  coast  of  Mindanao, 
forty  miles  from  Durinao,  at  daybreak  on  the  same 
morning  that  Ballard  and  Maria  had  started  to- 
gether in  the  Avispa  for  the  bungalow,  Margaret 

82 


BALLARD 

was  reading  again  the  many  times  re-read  pages  as 
a  way  of  abating  her  trepidation  and  of  hurrying  by 
the  moments.  Mrs.  Gerlison,  herself,  became  a 
little  impatient  with  the  cautious  English  skipper. 
The  transport  was  not  Government  owned,  and  he 
did  not  propose  to  lose  his  ship  for  his  company. 

With  his  glasses  he  made  out  the  speck  lying 
alongshore  as  a  gun-boat  long  before  the  passen- 
gers. As  soon  as  he  was  near  enough  he  signalled 
to  her  to  come  alongside. 

"  It's  one  of  the  mosquitos,"  said  the  Major  com- 
manding the  battalion. 

"Which  one?  Which  one?"  Margaret  asked 
breathlessly. 

He  could  not  tell.  Without  asking  permission, 
Margaret  rushed  up  to  the  sacred  precincts  of  the 
bridge  with  her  question. 

The  skipper  dropped  his  glass  and  blinked  several 
times  in  the  sunlight. 

"  The  Avispa"  he  replied. 

"Then  it's  he!  "she  cried. 

"  It's  who?  "  he  asked  absently,  still  blinking. 

"  Oh,  just  he !  "  replied  Margaret,  skurrying  back 
to  Mrs.  Gerlison  with  her  news,  while  the  skipper 
passed  certain  comments  to  himself  upon  the  ways 
of  American  army  women. 

83 


THE   WAYS  OF   THE   SERVICE 

She  watched  with  straining  eyes  until  she  could 
make  out  a  white  uniform  in  the  bow,  and  then 
watched  the  uniform  until  she  was  sure  it  was  his. 
Recognizing-  her  through  his  strong  glasses,  Bal- 
lard  swung  himself  out  from  one  of  the  awning  rails 
and  waved  his  cap.  First  she  waved  her  own  hand- 
kerchief alone,  then  seized  Mrs.  Gerlison's  and 
waved  them  both.  It  looked  as  if  he  had  come  out 
to  meet  them  and  to  escort  the  Idaho  into  the  har- 
bor; and,  of  course,  there  was  nothing  else  for  him 
to  do  now.  Mrs.  Gerlison,  not  Margaret  (who  had 
eyes  only  for  one  figure  aboard  the  Avispa)  was  the 
first  to  announce  the  presence  of  Maria.  The 
amiable  chaperone  little  knew  of  the  embarrass- 
ment that  she  was  causing  Ballard  when  she  called 
to  him  that  she  and  Margaret  could  not  wait,  but 
were  coming  aboard  at  once,  if  possible.  She 
sought  the  commanding  officer,  who  consented  to 
the  lowering  of  the  gang-way.  The  transfer,  upon 
a  sea  of  glass,  was  as  easy  as  stepping  from  a  ferry- 
boat to  shore. 

"  We  must  be  very  careful  not  to  say  anything 
about  color  that  will  offend  her.  She's  not  all 
white,  and  she  must  feel  it  terribly,"  Margaret  said 
to  Mrs.  Gerlison  as  they  started  to  descend. 

Meanwhile,  Maria,  sitting  on  the  side  of  the 
84 


BALLARD 

Avispa  away  from  the  transport,  had  not  risen  and 
she  had  not  lifted  her  eyes  from  that  face  which  she 
had  recognized  as  the  original  of  the  photograph. 

"Your  sweetheart,  isn't  she?"  she  remarked 
enigmatically,  as  if  her  composure  might  or  might 
not  be  the  calm  before  a  storm. 

"  Yes,"  replied  Ballard. 

"  Are  you  going  to  introduce  me?  " 

"  Certainly,"  he  replied. 

"  And  kiss  her?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  It  will  be  very  interesting,"  she  replied,  in  the 
same  enigmatical  tone. 

As  he  turned  to  receive  his  guests,  she  closed 
her  eyes,  forbidding  herself  to  see  what  was  to 
follow. 

"  You  look  tired,  worried — oh,  very  tired !  "  Mar- 
garet exclaimed,  as  her  hands  lingered  on  his 
shoulders  and  her  gaze  searched  his  face  for  the  rea- 
son. "You  are  not  ill?  It's  only  because  you 
haven't  had  enough  sleep  and  such  hard  lines?  " 

"  It's  no  holiday  taking  a  town  with  a  crew  of 
eight,"  he  said;  then  turned  and  introduced  her  and 
Mrs.  Gerlison  to  Maria,  who  rose  gracefully  and 
extended  her  hand. 

"  He  wrote  to  me  all  about  what  you  did,"  said 
85 


THE  WAYS  OF  THE  SERVICE 

Margaret,    feelingly.     "  You    were    so    good,  so 
brave." 

"  Not  in  the  least,"  Maria  replied.  "  You  see  a 
man  drowning;  you  throw  him  a  buoy;  his  life  is 
saved.  Is  that  brave?  But,  naturally,  I  am  glad 
to  have  thrown  the  buoy  that  saved  a  lover  and  then 
to  be  thanked  by  his  sweetheart." 

There  was  no  outward  semblance  of  mere  purr- 
ing felinity  in  this.  It  was  simply  and  girlishly 
spoken,  in  a  pleasant,  even  a  sweet,  tone.  She  had 
won  her  way  into  Mrs.  Gerlison's  as  well  as  Mar- 
garet's heart  long  before  they  were  at  the  pier.  In 
place  of  their  stifling  cabins  on  the  transport,  Maria 
made  them  at  home  in  the  cool  rooms  of  her  house. 
They  ate  tiffin  and  dinner  there,  and  marvelled  at 
her  and  her  surroundings  as  much  as  Ballard  had; 
while  she  was  soft,  almost  apologetic,  in  all  she  did 
and  said.  She  took  a  feminine  interest  in  the  latest 
fashions  and  in  what  the  American  women  found 
to  do  in  Manila.  When  it  came  to  speaking  of 
herself  and  her  people  she  led  the  conversation 
again  and  again  back  to  La  Nidada,  as  if  her  house 
was  by  comparison  merely  a  lodge  that  must  give 
them  an  ill  opinion  of  her  hospitality. 

"  I  should  like  to  go  out  there.  Isn't  there  some 
way  that  we  can?  "  said  Margaret. 

86 


BALLARD 

"  It  is  only  three  hours'  run  in  the  Avispa,  if  the 
Ensign  would  be  so  good,"  Maria  hinted. 

Mrs.  Gerlison,  as  usual,  thought  that  "  it  could 
be  arranged."  Ballard  at  the  time  was  at  the  Presi- 
dencia,  completing  the  details  of  turning  the  town 
over  to  the  army.  When  he  returned  to  them  in 
the  evening,  Mrs.  Gerlison  suggested  that  as  the 
transport  would  be  held  all  the  next  day  unloading 
supplies,  they  could  go  early  in  the  morning  and 
return  in  the  evening. 

He  appeared  to  give  his  consent  freely.  As  much 
as  he  disliked  the  idea  of  taking  Mrs.  Gerlison  and 
Margaret  into  the  territory  of  a  savage  enemy,  he 
knew  that  Maria  would  regard  his  refusal  as  dis- 
trust of  her  hospitality.  He  felt  that  he  had  injured 
her  feelings  enough.  The  woman  who,  after  saving 
his  life,  had  opened  her  house  to  his  friends,  would 
surely  be  as  loath  to  expose  them  to  any  danger  as 
he  knew  she  would  be  quick  to  resent  his  sugges- 
tion of  a  guard. 

More  and  more  the  incident  of  the  waltz  was  rasp- 
ing his  conscience.  When  he  asked  Margaret  to 
walk  around  the  square  with  him  before  retiring,  he 
was  seeking  a  way  of  freeing  himself  from  the  bur- 
den of  deceit.  But  how  could  he  begin?  How  ex- 
plain while  she  was  Maria's  guest?  he  was  asking 

87 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

himself  when  Margaret  began  to  talk  about  her 
hostess. 

"  I  am  completely  under  her  charm,"  she  said. 
"  I  pity  her  so.  She's  deserving  of  so  much  credit 
for  being  good  and  unselfish,  for  not  being  a  fiend. 
I'm  sure  I  should  be  if  I  were  in  her  place." 

"  You — you  would?     Oh,  no." 

"  Yes.  It's  so  easy  for  me  to  be  good  with  a 
dear  father  and  mother  and  with  you  to  love 
me." 

"  But  her  wealth !  She  doesn't  need  much  sym- 
pathy on  that  score,"  he  suggested. 

"  Yes,  that  is  all  she  has;  and  it  makes  the  black 
blood  in  her  veins  all  the  more  stinging.  I  can 
see  that  underneath,  in  her  heart,  she  suffers.  And 
her  suffering  has  only  made  her  nature  the  sweeter. 
I  was  going  to  invite  her  to  Manila  for  a  long  stay. 
Then  I  thought  that  some  of  our  women  would 
say  something,  perhaps  without  meaning  it  at  all, 
which  would  cut  her  to  the  quick.  Yes,  she  has 
her  property,  and  you  must  use  all  your  influence 
to  have  her  rights  protected,  won't  you,  Bailie?  " 

"  Certainly." 

He  wondered  if,  after  all,  the  underlying  purpose 
of  Maria's  conduct  from  the  first  had  not  been  that 
of  the  property  holder.  To  think  so  relieved  him 

88 


BALLARD 

of  the  idea  that  the  kiss  had  led  her  to  care  for 
him  and  the  unpleasant  egoism  associated  with  it. 

If  he  could  have  seen  her  when,  after  attending 
to  every  want  of  her  guests,  she  went  to  her  room, 
he  would  have  been  of  different  mind.  There  was 
now  no  sweetness  in  the  pathos  of  her  emotion.  She 
had  gained  her  immediate  object.  Margaret  and 
Ballard,  the  savage  of  her  nature  cried  triumph- 
antly, were  going  out  of  the  white  man's  domain 
into  her  own,  where  they  would  be  in  her  power. 
And  then?  She  had  not  planned  that  far.  Pick- 
ing up  a  fan  from  her  dressing-table,  she  slowly 
ripped  apart  the  paper  separating  the  ribs.  She 
snapped  the  thin  strips  of  bamboo  into  tiny  pieces, 
until  there  was  nothing  left  which  she  could  break 
between  her  fingers.  Then  she  laughed  hysterically 
at  the  pile  of  debris  and  threw  herself  upon  her  bed. 

She  awakened  Margaret  and  Mrs.  Gerlison  in 
person,  apologizing  for  that  introductory  discomfort 
which  is  necessary  in  the  Philippines,  if  you  would 
not  travel  in  the  heat  of  the  day.  Before  dawn 
the  party  had  breakfasted  and  were  aboard  the 
Avispa,  which  rounded  the  little  peninsula  that  is 
the  natural  breakwater  for  the  harbor  as  the  sun 
burst  upon  its  first,  its  true  love,  the  massy,  wine- 
dark  tropical  sea.  What  a  coast-line  is  that  which 

89 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

stretched  before  them,  as  rugged  in  places  where 
titanic  masses  of  rock  rise  perpendicularly,  over- 
shadowing great  depths,  as  it  is  soft  in  others,  where 
broad  stretches  of  white  sand  are  the  gleaming 
borders  of  sweeps  of  foliage — a  fair  consort  to 
waters  as  deadly  calm  in  halcyon  weather  as  they 
are  terrible  in  the  typhoon ! 

For  the  first  eight  miles  there  was  neither  habi- 
tation nor  any  sign  of  life.  Then  they  came  to  the 
dividing  line  between  the  wilderness  and  the  realm 
of  the  pioneer.  The  villages  on  the  beach  and  the 
groves  of  cocoa-nut  bearing  palms  were  a  part  of 
one  great  plantation  stretching  to  the  gardens  of 
La  Nidada  itself,  a  one-story  building  covering  such 
an  area  as  to  suggest  an  exposition  hall.  A  stream 
of  some  size  and  apparently  of  great  swiftness  en- 
tered the  sea  near  it. 

"  We  will  land  on  this  side  of  the  river,"  said 
Maria.  "  There  is  no  pier  on  the  other,  and  it  is 
also  too  steep,  as  you  see.  I  will  act  as  pilot,  if 
you  don't  mind." 

As  the  Avispa  was  made  fast  to  the  small  staging 
which  stood  within  sound  of  a  rushing  of  waters, 
the  guests  were  a  little  surprised  to  see  bearers 
ready  with  five  chairs. 

"  It  is  better  to  be  carried  than  to  climb,"  Maria 
90 


BALLARD 

explained.  "  We  have  no  telegraph  in  Mindanao, 
but  we  have  many  fleet  legs.  I  sent  a  runner  out 
last  night  to  have  everything  made  ready  for 
you." 

They  were  borne  up  a  path  to  the  river,  where 
a  rope  stretched  across  from  bank  to  bank  with  a 
banca  attached  to  it  made  a  primitive  ferry.  For 
two  hundred  feet  below  it  the  water  eddied  in  a 
basin  and  then  went  roaring  in  a  cataract  through 
a  canyon. 

"  If  the  rope  should  ever  break  when  you  were 
taking  your  guests  across  they'd  be  pretty  badly 
cut  up  when  you  recovered  them,"  the  Babe  re- 
marked. 

"  There  is  no  danger,"  Maria  replied.  "  We've 
never  had  an  accident.  It  was  my  father's  idea 
building  the  bungalow  here.  It  is  not  easily  ap- 
proached, you  see.  He  said  that  it  impressed  the 
Spaniards  as  well  as  the  natives.  Then  he  used 
to  laugh  and  say  that  if  he  ever  found  the  Spanish 
Governor  difficult  of  persuasion  he  might  stop  the 
banca  in  midstream  to  argue  the  point." 

First  the  Babe  and  Mrs.  Gerlison  and  then  Mar- 
garet, Maria,  and  Ballard  passed  over,  a  sturdy 
Moro  pulling  the  banca  along  hand  over  hand  on 
the  rope. 

91 


THE   WAYS  OF   THE  SERVICE 

"  Then  my  father  had  another  object,"  said 
Maria.  "  We  get  the  benefit  of  all  the  breeze  going 
up  here.  As  for  the  sun  " — she  nodded  toward  the 
ladders  leaning  against  the  eaves  and  the  coolies 
who  were  throwing  water  upon  the  roofing  of  many 
layers  of  nipa  leaves — "  he  said  that  he  would  show 
the  Spaniards  how  easy  it  is  to  keep  cool  in  the 
tropics." 

And  he  had,  indeed,  solved  the  problem  of  living 
comfortably  instead  of  merely  existing,  or  of  drink- 
ing to  excess,  to  drive  by  the  time  between  vacations 
in  a  temperate  climate. 

The  house  was  a  series  of  great  rooms  enclosing 
a  court  with  a  portico  on  the  inside  of  the  tier  and 
a  veranda  around  the  outside.  The  veranda  was 
hung  with  wet,  loosely  woven  native  mats,  and  the 
court,  with  a  skeleton  roof  of  bamboo  poles,  was 
also  covered  with  them  during  the  day.  Within, 
the  air  was  as  solacing  as  the  shady  side  of  the  house 
at  home  at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  an  Au- 
gust day. 

Their  tiffin  was  such  as  a  friend  can  give  you 
at  the  Hong-Kong  Club  if  he  wishes  you  a  very, 
very  happy  voyage.  Afterward  they  lounged,  half 
asleep,  half  awake,  in  the  post-prandial  fashion  of 
the  tropics.  Maria  brought  Mrs.  Gerlison  her 

92 


BALLARD 

father's  collection  of  exquisite  old  Japanese  carv- 
ings of  ivory,  which  completely  occupied  her  atten- 
tion. Then  while  the  men  smoked,  she  led  Mar- 
garet away  to  see  the  garden  in  the  court. 

"  You  must  be  very  happy  to  be  with  your  lover," 
she  said,  after  a  time. 

"  Gloriously  happy !  And  then  to  have  a  day  like 
this,  which  we  have  you  to  thank  for." 

"  What  would  you  do  if  you  found  that  he  loved 
another? " 

Margaret  started  at  the  possibility  that  the  ques- 
tion brought  to  her  mind  and  then  replied,  with  a 
woman's  show  of  tartness  and  independence : 

"  Give  him  up." 

"  What  if  he  had  kissed  another  woman,  passion- 
ately, and  made  love  to  her?  " 

"  I  should  dismiss  him." 

"  Perhaps  he  has." 

"  I  know  that  he  has  not !  "  Her  natural  indigna- 
tion, which  she  had  kept  under,  now  got  the  better 
of  her  desire  to  be  patient  out  of  deference  to  the 
customs  of  Maria's  world,  which  she  realized  were 
different  to  hers.  "  Why  do  you  ask  these  ques- 
tions?" 

The  rims  of  Maria's  nostrils  were  as  white,  her 
breath  was  coming  and  going  as  quickly,  as  on  the 

93 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

day  when  she  held  Margaret's  photograph  in  her 
hand.  She  was  of  a  sudden  a  new  being  to  Mar- 
garet, who  found  herself  both  disliking  and  fearing 
her,  and  wishing,  for  some  intuitive  reason  which 
she  could  not  explain,  that  she  had  not  come  to 
La  Nidada. 

Maria,  seemingly  on  the  point  of  an  outburst, 
was  still  able  to  control  her  passion. 

"  Forgive  me,  if  I  tried  to  tease  you,"  she  said, 
leading  the  way  into  the  room  where  the  men  were 
just  finishing  their  cigars.  • 

She  went  to  the  piano,  proposing  that  Margaret 
and  Ballard  should  dance.  The  strains  of  a  waltz 
floated  through  the  room,  and  Ballard  offered  his 
arm  to  Margaret,  who  welcomed  the  diversion  from 
thoughts  of  the  scene  in  the  court. 

After  a  few  measures  Maria  arose. 

"  It's  your  turn  now  to  play,"  she  said  to  Mar- 
garet. "  I've  laid  a  Strauss  '  Siren  '  on  the  rack — 
my  favorite." 

Mrs.  Gerlison  observed  with  surprise  the  freedom 
with  which  she  put  her  hand  on  Ballard's  shoulder, 
the  abandon  with  which  she  threw  herself  into  the 
movement.  But  she  explained  to  herself  that  it  was 
not  immodesty,  as  she  thought  of  the  girl's  up- 
bringing without  restraint. 

94 


BALLARD 

"Whew!  She  moves  on  air!"  exclaimed  the 
Babe. 

Then  there  flashed  through  Mrs.  Gerlison's  mind 
the  revelation  that  Maria  loved  the  man  that  she 
was  dancing  with;  that  something  had  passed  be- 
tween them. 

"  Have  they  been  together  much?  Has  she  be- 
come fond  of  him?"  she  asked  the  Babe. 

"  No,  not  at  all.  She's  bothered  him  a  good  deal 
about  her  property." 

Babe  was  telling  a  single  big  white  lie  bluntly  as 
the  best  way  of  avoiding  a  train  of  little  ones  to 
support  one  another.  Mrs.  Gerlison  recognized  that 
he  was. 

Maria's  face  was  close  to  Ballard's,  her  head 
thrown  back,  her  eyes  half  closed  yet  looking  with 
concentrated  force  into  his.  He  realized  that  she 
was  putting  him  to  the  test  of  the  evening  of 
Durinao;  he  could  not  help  feeling  the  intoxication 
of  the  rhythm  of  her  spirit  with  his. 

"  Do  I  dance  well?  "  she  whispered,  drawing  her- 
self a  little  closer. 

At  this  moment  Mrs.  Gerlison  crossed  the  room 
to  the  piano,  "  positively  with  fear  already  in  my 
heart,"  as  she  afterward  said. 

"  Come,  stop  playing,  dear,"  she  whispered. 
95 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

••» 

Margaret  lifted  her  fingers  from  the  keys  and 
turned  around  on  the  stool  to  see  that  Ballard  was 
leading  Maria  to  a  chair.  This  time  he  had  not 
succumbed  to  temptation.  Yet  Maria  was  not  con- 
vinced against  her  wish.  She  was  trembling,  ex- 
hausted. The  savage  whispered  to  her  to  use  her 
power  for  all  that  it  was  worth ;  to  call  her  Moros, 
who,  at  a  word,  would  flock  into  the  room  with  their 
knives  and  enforce  her  will,  whatever  it  was. 

Then  Mrs.  Gerlison,  at  her  side,  said: 

"  You  danced  too  hard;   you  are  fatigued." 

"  A  Jittle,  perhaps,"  she  replied.  "  You  see  I 
don't  have  the  privilege  often.  I  can't  waltz  with 
my  servants." 

"  I  think  that  we  must  be  going.  We  shall  be 
back  scarcely  before  dark,  as  it  is,"  Mrs.  Gerlison 
added.  "  Will  you  accompany  us?  " 

"  Yes,  I  want  to  see  you  safely  in  Durinao  and 
say  good-by  there,  if  you  will  let  me." 

And  Mrs.  Gerlison,  who  knew  that  it  was  Ballard 
of  whom  Maria  was  thinking,  expressed  her  pleas- 
ure, of  course. 

Maria  begged  that  each  would  accept  one  of  the 
Japanese  ivories  as  a  souvenir  of  the  visit.  She 
asked  them  to  wait  until  a  servant  should  have 
picked  bouquets  from  the  court. 

96 


BALLARD 

As  they  passed  down  the  path  to  the  river  she 
dropped  behind  for  a  few  words  with  the  Moro 
boatman  in  his  own  tongue. 

Mrs.  Gerlison  and  the  Babe  were  taken  over  first. 
When  the  banco,  returned  to  make  the  second  trip, 
Margaret  was  given  her  old  place  in  the  bow  and 
Maria  seated  herself  by  Ballard  in  the  stern. 

"  The  roaring  of  the  water  down  there  fairly 
makes  me  shiver,"  Margaret  remarked.  "  I  confess 
I  have  strong  prejudices  in  favor  of  a  bridge." 

"  Yes,"  said  Maria.  "  You  see,  I  have  become 
used  to  it.  Indeed,  I  have  been  so  near  Death  so 
many  times  that  I  am  fond,  as  Mr.  Ballard  is,  of 
looking  in  his  face  and  keeping  him  mockingly  at 
arms'  length." 

They  were  now  almost  half  way  over.  Maria 
called  their  attention  to  the  crest  of  spray  where 
the  swift-flowing  water  banked  up  between  the 
great  rocks  that  flanked  the  canyon. 

"  The  natives  call  it  the  mane  of  the  white  pony 
that  has  never  been  broken  to  ride,"  she  said. 

Then  they  heard  the  ping  of  the  parting  of  the 
rope,  and  the  banco  was  suddenly  overturned. 

As  he  rose  to  the  surface,  Ballard  found  Maria 
at  his  side,  her  eyes  pleading  for  help.  In  his  glance 
she  had  the  final,  definite  answer  that  she  had 

97 


THE   WAYS   OF  THE   SERVICE 

sought.  He  struck  out  for  Margaret,  who  was  in 
the  middle  of  the  current,  with  the  Moro  just  be- 
hind, swimming  easily  and  yet  offering  her  no  assist- 
ance. On  Ballard's  approach  he  swam  toward 
Maria. 

"  Put  your  hand  on  my  shoulders ! "  Ballard 
said,  drawing  Margaret  toward  him. 

She  obeyed,  coolly  and  implicitly.  With  all  his 
great  strength,  Ballard  made  for  the  eddy  on  the 
bungalow  side  where  the  stream  narrowed.  If 
given  another  second,  or  if  unencumbered,  he  would 
have  reached  this  haven.  He  saw  that  he  could  not, 
but  he  kept  on  with  no  less  determination  toward 
the  shore.  They  passed  into  the  cataract.  He  saw 
a  projecting  sliver  of  rock,  threw  up  his  left  hand, 
and  gripped  it.  As  they  swung  around  Margaret 
let  go  of  his  blouse.  But  her  body  was  in  such  a 
position  that  he  was  able  to  catch  her  about  the 
waist,  postponing  death  for  the  little  while  that  his 
strength  should  last. 

The  Babe,  as  soon  as  he  saw  what  had  happened, 
plunged  in.  A  much  weaker  swimmer  than  Bal- 
lard, the  current  lodged  him,  stunned  and  fainting, 
in  a  crotch  of  rock  on  the  side  from  which  he  had 
started. 

Maria  and  the  Moro  (who  had  been  appointed  to 
98 


BALLARD 

save  Margaret  if  Ballard  did  not  go  to  her),  know- 
ing the  stream,  had  easily  reached  the  eddy.  She 
ran  up  over  the  rocks  until  she  could  see  the  posi- 
tion of  Ballard  and  Margaret. 

Ballard  tried  to  draw  himself  up  to  his  support 
in  vain.  He  might  have  succeeded  if  he  could  have 
used  both  hands,  but  he  would  not  consider  the  risk 
of  Margaret's  being  parted  from  him.  This,  Maria, 
peering  over  the  edge  of  a  flat  rock,  unseen  by 
them,  understood.  She  turned  away. 

"  Dear,"  said  Ballard,  "  I've  been  a  great  cad,  a 
funk.  I  was  mad  for  a  moment.  I  kissed  that 
woman !  I  hated  myself  afterward.  I  hate  myself 
now.  Please  forgive  me." 

"  You  do  not  surprise  me  after  what  she  told  me 
in  the  garden.  I  do  forgive,  I  do !  And,  Bailie,  it 
won't  be  so  hard  to  go — to  go  down  there  if  you 
hold  me  very  tight." 

She  was  happy  as  she  looked  into  his  face,  tender 
in  expression,  having  now  the  character  that  comes 
with  years,  and  felt  the  rigid  muscles  of  his  arm 
around  her. 

"  Not  yet.  We'll  do  our  best.  We'll  make  a  good 
fight— together !  " 

The  roar  of  the  torrent  was  becoming  a  hum  in 
his  ears  when  he  received  a  new  impulse  upon  hear- 

99 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

ing  voices  and  calls.    Maria,  her  head  now  buried  in 

cushions  at  La  Nidada,  as  she  gave  the  word  for 

their  rescue,  had  added  to  herself: 

"  I  am  very  good  for  me — for  me — for  me!  " 
With   agile   hands   the   natives   fastened   ropes 

around  the  couple  and  brought  them  to  the  bank. 

Margaret  was  able  to  stand.     Ballard  lay  gasping 

on  the  grass. 

"  In  my  journal — Margaret — you " 

He  made  an  effort  to  put  his  hand  into  the  inside 

pocket  of  his  blouse.    The  strain  of  the  fight  he  had 

made  with  the  current  had  opened  wider  the  lesion. 

His  heart  collapsed. 
As  Margaret  looked  into  his  dead  face  she  knew 

that  he  belonged  to  her. 


ICO 


THE  ROMANCE  OF  PRIVATE 
SAUNDERS 


THE    ROMANCE    OF    PRIVATE 
SAUNDERS 

MRS.  WAINDEERING  knew  little  of  any 
Service  except  the  diplomatic,  and  not  much 
of  that  as  yet.  Even  if  she  had  been  familiar  with 
the  ways  of  the  army,  this  spoiled  young  woman, 
who  had  brought  wealth  as  well  as  her  beauty  to 
a  First  Secretary,  would  not  have  felt  herself  bound 
by  them  when  she  was  away  from  the  Legation  on 
a  holiday.  Therefore,  her  conduct  concerning 
Private  Saunders  was  in  keeping  with  her  reputa- 
tion. 

Upon  her  arrival  at  Nagasaki  (en  route  from  Yo- 
kohama to  Shanghai,  where  she  was  to  be  the  guest 
of  the  Barkers,  of  the  Chinese  Customs,  for  the 
races)  she  found  that  a  school  friend,  Miss  Berke- 
ley, with  her  parents,  General  and  Mrs.  Berkeley, 
were  on  board  the  transport  Hancock,  which  was 
coaling  at  Manila.  She  cabled  at  once  to  the 
Barkers  that  she  would  arrive  by  the  Coptic,  sailing 
three  days  after  the  Empress  of  Japan,  and  made  her 
husband  bundle  their  baggage  off  the  Empress  to 

103 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

the  hotel,  while  he  deprecated  the  proceeding  in  the 
manner  of  a  second-class  power  which  knows  that 
its  protest  is  purely  formal. 

"  You're  invited  to  waltz  with  me,  hubby,"  she 
said,  "  and  there's  an  end  of  it." 

To  white  womankind  in  Nagasaki  the  point  of 
interest  about  any  arriving  transport  was  whether 
it  had  a  band  or  not.  If  it  had,  then  the  dining-room 
of  the  hotel  was  cleared  with  a  promptness  which 
robbed  the  late  diners  of  their  desserts;  and  the 
Consular  Body,  American  wives  waiting  for  news  of 
husbands  serving  by  land  and  sea,  and  whatever 
navy  and  army  officers  happened  to  be  in  port, 
danced  until  after  midnight. 

The  ball  for  which  the  band  of  the  Hancock  fur- 
nished music  would  have  passed  off  without  any 
striking  incident  provided  that  Mrs.  Waindeering 
had  not  recognized  a  familiar  face  in  that  of  a  tall, 
fine-looking  private  on  shore  leave  from  the  trans- 
port as  she  was  passing  along  the  Bund.  It  is 
known  that  after  he  had  responded  to  her  greeting, 
which  seemed  to  embarrass  him  a  good  deal,  she  ex- 
claimed : 

"  You  poor  boy !  " 

Beyond  this  it  is  only  necessary  to  state  that  no 
sooner  were  the  words  spoken  than  a  little  laugh 

104 


ROMANCE   OF   PRIVATE   SAUNDERS 

rippled  from  her  lips  in  token  of  what  her  husband 
playfully  called  one  of  her  "  ecstatic  impulses  to 
combat  the  monotony  of  existence."  Considering 
her  way  of  carrying  men  and  events  with  her,  it  was 
hopeless  for  the  private  to  call  up  the  unwritten  rule 
against  his  dancing  on  the  same  floor  with  his  offi- 
cers. The  freedom  of  her  plan  from  anything  really 
scandalous  to  the  civilian  mind  was  fully  guaranteed 
by  the  fact  that  Mr.  Waindeering  himself  was  so  far 
— and  no  farther — made  a  party  to  it  as  to  furnish 
Saunders  with  a  dinner-jacket  for  the  occasion. 

Miss  Berkeley  dined  at  the  hotel,  the  vis-a-vis  of 
Saunders  at  the  Waindeerings'  table,  while  General 
and  Mrs.  Berkeley  dined  at  the  Consul's — an  ar- 
rangement of  Mrs.  Waindeering's  with  method  in 
it.  During  dinner  Miss  Berkeley  frequently  asked 
herself  where  she  had  met  this  Mr.  Saunders  before. 
If  she  did  not  recognize  him  as  one  of  the  thousand 
men  in  khaki  who  had  come  on  the  transport  from 
San  Francisco,  it  is  not  surprising  that  none  of  the 
officers  in  the  dining-room  did.  They,  no  more  than 
she,  were  looking  for  privates  in  evening  dress  at 
the  hotel  table.  As  Saunders  and  Miss  Berkeley, 
raptly  chatting,  passed  out  on  the  broad  veranda 
for  coffee,  Mrs.  Waindeering  pinched  her  husband's 
arm  and  nodded  toward  them  triumphantly. 

105 


THE   WAYS  OF   THE   SERVICE 

"  Won't  it  be  lovely  if  we  can  keep  it  secret  all 
through  the  evening?"  she  exclaimed.  "  If  we  do, 
I  shall  never  be  able  to  resist  telling  Mrs.  Berkeley 
about  it  in  the  morning,  just  to  hear  her  talk." 

"  I  don't  mind  saying  that  I  think  you  are  going 
a  little  too  far,"  said  Waindeering. 

"  Edward,  once  I  thought  you  had  a  sense  of 
romance — once,  I  say,  Edward,"  she  replied,  slap- 
ping his  shoulder  with  her  fan. 

If  Miss  Berkeley  had  not  danced  two  waltzes  run- 
ning with  Mr.  Saunders  perhaps  Mrs.  Waindeer- 
ing's  highest  hopes  for  her  plan  might  have  been 
fulfilled.  Simply  one  waltz  would  not  have  so  in- 
tensified the  regimental  adjutant's  interest  in  the 
civilian  as  to  associate  his  name  and  face  with  a 
name  and  face  on  the  transport.  When  he  had  satis- 
fied himself  after  a  moment's  close  scrutiny,  he  went 
to  the  General  and  his  wife  with  the  great  news. 

"  Of  course,  Charles,  you  will  send  him  out  of  the 
room  at  once,"  said  Mrs.  Berkeley. 

"  Yes,  I  think  I  had  better.  It's  a  bad  precedent. 
But  let  it  be  done  quietly,  so  as  to  avoid  a  scene." 

The  Adjutant,  who  was  sealed  up  in  his  shop  for 
life  the  day  that  he  was  admitted  to  West  Point, 
reported  the  orders  to  Saunders,  who  spoke  his  little 
"  Yes,  sir,"  and  saluted  smilingly. 

1 06 


ROMANCE   OF   PRIVATE   SAUNDERS 

Mrs.  Waindeering,  her  cheeks  flushed  with  anger, 
threw  back  her  head,  up-lifting  a  small  square  chin 
which  was  the  outpost  of  a  will  quite  the  equal  of  an 
adjutant's. 

"  Is  there  any  regulation  of  the  army  against  a 
private  on  leave  attending  an  informal  dance  at  the 
Nagasaki  Hotel?  "  she  asked. 

"  It  is  not  customary !  It  is  impossible !  "  replied 
the  Adjutant,  who  actually  had  his  heels  together. 

"  Then  there  is  no  regulation !  Private  Saunders 
is  my  guest  and  is  going  to  remain." 

Before  the  Adjutant  could  express  his  astonish- 
ment at  such  insubordination,  Saunders  himself  in- 
terposed. 

"  No,  no.  Please,  no,  Mrs.  Waindeering,"  he 
said.  "  It  would  be  worse  taste  for  me  to  remain 
than  it  was  to  come." 

Mrs.  Waindeering's  perception  was  as  quick  as  it 
was  sympathetic. 

"  Yes,  yes,"  she  said,  "  you  are  right.  I  brought 
you  here  under  protest,  and  I  appreciate  how  you 
feel." 

The  Adjutant  bowed  and  returned  to  the  General 
with  the  strides  of  the  parade  ground. 

There  remained  for  Saunders  to  say  good-night 
to  Miss  Berkeley  and  leave  the  room.  If  he  had 

107 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

known  that  the  girl  was  so  charming,  he  said  to 
himself,  he  would  not  have  consented  to  Mrs.  Wain- 
deering's  ruse.  He  concluded  to  tell  her  about  the 
trick  he  had  played  before  she  heard  it  from  others. 
And  he  held  to  his  determination  while  he  was  cross- 
ing the  room;  held  to  it  until  he  looked  into  her 
eyes,  when  the  improvisation  of  being  called  away 
suddenly  by  a  cablegram  quite  inexplicably  and  un- 
expectedly took  its  place  as  an  excuse  for  going. 

Mr.  Waindeering  sat  on  his  bed  while  Saunders 
returned  to  the  garb  of  the  ranks.  He  tried  in  vain 
to  draw  the  private's  story,  which  Mrs.  Waindeer- 
ing had  refused  to  tell  him  except  in  tantalizing  gen- 
eralities. When  they  came  down-stairs  Saunders 
stopped  at  the  desk  to  write  what  he  had  been 
unable  to  say. 

"  Mrs.  Waindeering  will  explain  the  deceit  I  prac- 
tised," he  told  Miss  Berkeley.  "  The  least  I  can  do 
is  to  offer  apologies  for  conduct  of  which  I  am 
heartily  ashamed.  The  blame  lies  entirely  with  me 
— and  with  Mr.  Waindeering's  dinner-jacket." 

This,  he  thought,  would  relieve  both  women  of 
any  embarrassment. 

As  he  left  the  hotel  with  the  strains  of  a  waltz 
following  him  and  before  him  the  twinkling  lights 
of  the  scores  of  small  boats  and  the  steady  gleam 

108 


_ 
c 

•2 


ROMANCE   OF   PRIVATE   SAUNDERS 

of  the  lights  of  the  ships  at  anchor,  he  recalled  other 
days,  when  finely  gowned  women,  dinners  and 
dances  were  as  much  a  part  of  his  routine  of  life 
as  lining  up  on  deck  with  his  company  for  ra- 
tions. 

"  Two  years  and  ten  months  more  of  it !  "  he  re- 
marked, as  he  stepped  into  a  sampan.  "  I  made  the 
bargain  and  I'll  see  it  out.  But  I  don't  want  any 
more  experiences  like  to-night's.  They  make  it  too 
hard." 

The  next  morning,  shortly  before  the  Hancock 
sailed,  he  received  a  note  from  Mrs.  Waindeering. 
It  was  such  a  note  as  woman  can  write  when  she  is 
thoroughly  in  earnest  in  taking  anyone's  part — 
particularly  a  man's.  Incidentally,  she  asked  him 
to  write  to  her,  and  inclosed  a  letter  to  her  friend, 
Mrs.  Gerlison,  in  Manila.  He  was  at  first  a  little 
disappointed  at  getting  no  answer  from  Miss  Berke- 
ley, and  then  promptly  told  himself  that,  considering 
the  circumstances,  he  should  not  be. 

As  for  Miss  Berkeley,  as  soon  as  she  had  received 
his  note  she  had  shown  it  to  Mrs.  Waindeering,  who 
promptly  said : 

"  Nancy,  he's  fibbing  for  our  sakes.  I'm  the 
author  of  the  whole  plot.  When  I  met  the  poor  boy 
in  the  street  and  recognized  him,  I  thought  I  would 

109 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

give  him  one  happy  evening.    He  protested.    I  in- 
sisted, and  so " 

"Then  he  has  a  story!  Tell  me  all  about  it, 
do!" 

"  I  promised  him  upon  my  word  of  honor  that 
I  wouldn't." 

"  Please,  just  to  me.  I'll  never  repeat  it.  It  must 
be  very  interesting.  Is — is  it  very  terrible — or — or 
very  wicked?  Anyway,  you'll  say  that  much." 

"  No,  it's  not  very  terrible,  or  very  wicked." 

Having  learned  all  she  could,  Nancy  remarked, 
finally,  that  it  was  certainly  extremely  interesting 
to  have  such  a  man  as  a  private  in  the  regiment. 

As  you  will  readily  understand,  it  was  not  at  all 
because  she  wanted  to  talk  with  Private  Saunders, 
not  at  all  because  she  was  tantalized  with  curiosity 
to  get  his  story  herself,  but  entirely  because  it  is 
not  within  the  ways  of  the  Service  for  a  general's 
daughter  to  write  to  privates  that  she  determined  to 
answer  his  note  orally  on  board  the  Hancock. 
This  seemed  easy  enough  in  theory,  but  in  practice 
was  difficult,  as  a  girl  reared  in  the  army  ought  to 
have  known.  Compared  to  the  Chinese  wall  be- 
tween rank  and  file  on  a  transport,  the  barrier 
between  first  and  second  class  on  an  Atlantic  liner 
is  merely  an  imaginary  parallel  separating  zones. 

no 


ROMANCE   OF   PRIVATE   SAUNDERS 

Saunders  was  one  of  a  thousand  privates  on  the 
main  deck.  To  see  him  Nancy  must  either  go  down 
the  ladder  and  single  out  one  of  the  thousand  for 
conversation,  or  else  he  must  ascend  the  ladder 
while  she  met  him  at  its  head  in  the  presence  of  rank 
as  well  as  file.  In  the  afternoon,  when  the  men 
were  brought  on  the  upper  deck,  which  afforded 
more  room  for  their  exercises,  there  was  no  ex- 
change of  recognition,  though  he  looked  fairly  into 
her  face  as  he  went  through  the  setting-up  drill. 
And  he  hated  the  experience  when  a  second  lieu- 
tenant told  him  to  do  the  most  undignified  and 
difficult  of  all  the  movements  alone  so  that 
the  others  of  his  company  might  see  it  done 
properly. 

Therefore  it  passed  that  the  Sixteenth  went  into 
camp  on  the  plaza  of  the  Luneta  in  Manila  to  re- 
cuperate from  the  voyage  preparatory  to  going  into 
the  field,  and  the  Berkeleys  went  to  the  hotel  with- 
out Nancy  having  acknowledged  the  private's 
apology.  Mrs.  Gerlison  and  the  Berkeleys  were 
old  and  firm  friends;  and  Nancy,  after  telling  of 
all  that  had  happened  since  they  last  met,  found  it 
convenient  to  relate  her  experience  with  Private 
Saunders  to  the  great  keeper  of  army  secrets. 

"  Mrs.  Waindeering  wrote  that  she  had  sent  him 
in 


THE   WAYS  OF  THE  SERVICE 

a  letter  of  introduction  to  me  and  told  him  to  call," 
said  Mrs.  Gerlison.  "  Now  that  you  have  sur- 
rounded the  young  man  with  mystery  I  am  very 
much  interested.  I  shouldn't  mind  quizzing  him, 
myself." 

Nancy  saw  Mrs.  Gerlison  every  evening  on  the 
Luneta,  if  not  during  the  day  at  her  house.  When 
a  week  had  passed  without  Private  Saunders  having 
called  on  Mrs.  Gerlison,  both  conspirators  were  be- 
ginning to  lose  hope. 

"  I  think  he's  embarrassed  and  afraid  he  might 
meet  some  officer  if  he  came,"  was  Nancy's  expla- 
nation. "  I  shall  have  to  write  to  him  after  all, 
though  it  isn't  exactly  the  thing.  But  I  must  not 
let  him  think  that  I  didn't  appreciate  his  apol- 

ogy." 

"  Of  course,"  Mrs.  Gerlison  replied.  "  I'll  just 
drop  him  a  note  saying  that  I  can  introduce  him  as 
newspaper  correspondent  or  a  clerk.  That  will  ex- 
plain the  absence  of  shoulder-straps.  And  I'll 
apologize  for  you,  my  dear,  when  he  comes." 

"  Thank  you,  thank  you  very  much,  Mrs.  Gerli- 
son," a  little  dubiously. 

It  happened,  however,  that  Nancy  was  at  Mrs. 
Gerlison's  the  next  afternoon  when  a  reply  to  the 
note  came.  It  read : 

112 


ROMANCE   OF   PRIVATE   SAUNDERS 

MY  DEAR  MRS.  GERLISON: 

Thank  you.    But  I  think  I'd  better  not. 
With  all  politeness  and  all  respect, 

JOHN  SAUNDERS, 
Private,  1 6th  U.  S.  Infantry. 

"  Isn't  he  delightful !  And  awfully  disappoint- 
ing," said  Nancy,  passing  from  an  exclamation  of 
joy  to  a  pout  in  a  twinkling. 

"  Very,"  said  Mrs.  Gerlison.  "  And  also  very 
independent  to  receive  my  kindly  suggestion  in  that 
way." 

"  I  don't  think  so  at  all." 

"  You  don't?  "  asked  Mrs.  Gerlison,  in  feigned 
surprise. 

"No,  not  a  bit.  I'm  astonished  that  you  of  all 
women  can't  see  through  it.  It's  so  beautifully  put. 
In  just  those  few  words  he  says  how  tired  he  is  of 
associating  with  those  horrid  men,  how  he  longs  to 
come,  but  how  he  realizes  that  he  might  embarrass 
you  and  others." 

"  You  seem  to  read  his  innermost  thoughts,  my 
dear." 

Miss  Berkeley's  face  became  crimson. 

"  That  remark  is  quite  uncalled  for,  Mrs.  Gerli- 
son," she  said.  "  I  pity  a  man  of  his  character  in 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

his  position.  I  wonder  that  you  don't.  You're  so 
cantankerous  this  afternoon  that  I'll  not  stay  an- 
other minute." 

"  Well,  any  way  it  doesn't  matter  much,"  Mrs. 
Gerlison  added  at  the  door.  "  I  suppose  you've 
heard  that  the  Sixteenth  is  going  out  on  the  line 
to-morrow." 

"No!  Are  they?"  (In  great  surprise.) 
"Where?"  (Attempted  nonchalance.) 

"  To  Bulacan." 

"  That  isn't  as  far  as  Mindanao  or  Jolo !  "  (In 
unconcealed  delight.) 

"  No,"  Mrs.  Gerlison  called  after  her,  as  she  hur- 
ried down  the  path  in  confusion.  "  No,  it  isn't  as 
far  as  Mindanao  or  Jolo." 

"  I  drew  her  wickedly,"  Mrs.  Gerlison  said  to 
herself  as  she  sought  the  ease  of  her  long  cane 
chair,  "  and  if  I  don't  praise  him  as  a  Roland  who 
has  won  her  heart  she  may  be  falling  in  love  with 
him  by  the  proxy  of  contrariness  without  knowing 
him  at  all.  But  that  was  a  clever  letter.  I'm  im- 
mensely interested  in  Private  Saunders  myself." 

However,  Nancy  concluded,  upon  thinking  it 
over,  that  for  the  purpose  of  satisfying  her  curiosity 
by  getting  Saunders's  story,  Bulacan  was  not  only 
as  far  away  as  Mindanao  or  Jolo,  but  as  far  as  Ber- 

114 


ROMANCE   OF   PRIVATE   SAUNDERS 

muda  or  Martinique.  Privates,  wherever  they  are 
in  the  field,  do  not  get  leave  to  come  into  Manila. 

But  events  moved  rapidly,  and  surprises  were  as 
numerous  as  casualties  in  those  days.  The  Six- 
teenth went  into  action  almost  at  once,  and  Saun- 
ders,  with  a  bad  wound  in  the  shoulder  from  a 
poisonous  Remington  bullet,  was  sent  into  town 
on  a  stretcher  and  thence  to  Hospital  Number  i. 
His  captain  mentioned  him  for  conspicuous  cool- 
ness under  trying  circumstances.  This  was  a  great 
honor,  considering  that  in  our  regular  service  cour- 
age is  a  matter  of  course  rather  than  of  comment. 
As  the  story  was  told,  Saunders's  squad  was  fired  on 
from  ambush.  Four  of  them  were  hit,  including 
Saunders.  He  kept  his  head  and  rallied  the  others 
while,  under  his  direction,  they  held  off  the  enemy 
until  help  came. 

Nancy  waited  for  nearly  five  hours  after  she  heard 
the  news  before  she  went  to  Mrs.  Gerlison  brimming 
over  with  solicitude  about  the  hard  lot  of  enlisted 
men  in  hospitals.  Mrs.  Gerlison  was  in  the  same 
state  of  mind. 

Saunders's  expressions  of  gratitude  for  their  call 
were  purely  within  the  limitations  of  the  ranks  and 
yet  forbade  approaches  to  the  vital  subject  of  his 
story.  After  they  had  sent  him  jellies  and  custards 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

and  magazines,  they  tried  collectively  and  individ- 
ually to  bring  him  to  the  point,  only  to  be  led  away 
from  it  with  more  adroitness  than  they  had  led  up 
to  it,  which  fully  accounted  for  the  remark  of  so 
clever  a  woman  as  Mrs.  Gerlison,  that  Saunders 
was  a  remarkable  private,  indeed.  It  may  be  added, 
for  reasons  of  state,  that  he  was  more  generous  with 
Nancy  than  with  her.  Once  Nancy  got  this  far,  only 
to  wonder  afterward  how  she  had  dared  to: 

"  Your  story — of  course  I  don't  ask  you  to  tell 
it — but  it — is  it — we're  all  so  interested,  you  see 
— I  mean,  is  it  terrible?  " 

"  Not  so  very,  Miss  Berkeley,"  he  replied,  so- 
berly. 

"  That's  precisely  what  Mrs.  Waindeering  said." 

"  And  shows  I  am  consistent,"  he  added. 

The  story  of  the  ball  at  Nagasaki  had  travelled 
to  Manila.  Joining  it  to  Nancy's  frequent  calls  at 
Hospital  Number  i  (to  the  exclusion,  it  was  ob- 
served, of  Hospitals  Numbers  2  and  3),  with  the 
warp  of  exaggeration,  the  gossips  wove  a  fabric 
of  romance  which  clothed  the  pair  in  an  entente 
highly  amusing  to  the  Service,  which  had  a  saying 
that  "  Mrs.  General "  Berkeley  would  never  allow 
her  daughter  to  marry  anything  less  than  a  field 
marshal. 

116 


ROMANCE  OF   PRIVATE   SAUNDERS 

Though  abstractly  a  truthful  girl,  Nancy  saved 
herself  trouble  by  not  telling  her  mother  of  her 
visits  to  the  hospital.  The  Adjutant,  who  was  now 
on  the  General's  staff,  pondered  much  over  the 
matter.  He  had  a  weighty  rather  than  a  lucid  mind, 
which  was  always  absorbed  with  the  necessity  of 
doing  his  duty,  without  any  proper  conception  of 
what  duty  was  except  as  he  read  it  in  the  Orders 
of  the  Day.  In  the  language  of  the  Service,  he 
was  irredeemably  a  "  duffer."  And  being  a  "duf- 
fer," he  was  bound  to  decide  after  painful  debates 
with  himself  that  he  owed  it  to  the  General  to  give 
Mrs.  Berkeley  a  hint — a  very  little  hint — of  what 
was  going  on.  He  did  not  foresee  that  a  very 
little  hint  would  mean  a  stern  matronly  demand 
for  full  and  explicit  details. 

Mrs.  Berkeley  thanked  the  Adjutant.  She  called 
him  a  high-minded  young  man,  when  he  left  her 
in  a  state  of  humiliation  and  torment,  which  she 
had  to  endure  for  an  hour  before  her  daughter  re- 
turned (as  it  happened  from  a  visit  to  the  hospital) 
to  be  met  at  the  door  by  an  outburst  of  pent-up 
indignation.  Nancy  took  the  wind  out  of  her 
mother's  sails  by  promptly  admitting  the  charges 
with  a  merry  toss  of  the  head. 

"  My  daughter,"  said  Mrs.  Berkeley,  finally,  "  we 
117 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

shall  see  when  your  father  comes.  Yes,  we  shall 
see.  You  may  go  to  your  room." 

"  Certainly  I  shall,  Mamma  dear,"  was  the  happy 
reply,  "  as  I  want  to  wash  a  little  dust  off  before 
tiffin." 

It  was  of  good  omen  for  Nancy  that  her  father 
had  come  straight  from  a  few  minutes  at  the  club, 
where  he  had  had  something  with  ice  in  it  which 
tasted  very  much  to  his  Georgia-trained  palate  like 
those  of  fragrant  memory  at  home.  And  then 
Nancy,  blooming  and  fresh,  met  him  at  the  door 
with  a  kiss  which  she  followed  with  a  smiling :  "  Real 
mint,  too,  wasn't  it,  Daddy?  " 

As  her  mother  proceeded  at  length  with  the  scan- 
dal which  had  befallen  the  house  of  Berkeley,  Nancy 
mixed  her  father's  white  wine  and  Tansan  in  just 
the  right  proportion  and  smiled  at  him  trustingly. 
As  the  General  was  in  a  hurry  to  return  to  his  prep- 
arations for  his  expedition  to  the  island  of  Marin- 
duque,  it  is  not  surprising  that  he  failed  to  be 
properly  indignant. 

"  Why  not?  "  he  asked.  "  I  think  it  very  proper 
for  Nancy  to  do  anything  she  can  to  help  the  poor 
fellows  in  the  hospitals.  In  fact,  it's  her  duty  as  a 
daughter  of  the  Service." 

"  But  can't  you  see,"  demanded  the  exasperated 
118 


ROMANCE   OF   PRIVATE   SAUNDERS 

wife,  "  that  it's  one  private,  this  man  Saunders? 
Maybe  he's  a  bank  robber,  or  a  forger,  or  what 
not!" 

"  Nancy,"  the  General  asked,  "  do  you  go  to  see 
only  one  private?  " 

"  No.     I  have  given  jellies  to  twenty  if  to  one." 

"  Circumstantial,  always.  That's  right.  You  in- 
herit it  from  me.  Are  you  falling  in  love  with  this 
one?  "  The  General  chuckled  over  his  question. 

"  Preposterous !     Of  course  I'm  not !  " 

And  Nancy  meant  what  she  said,  at  the  time. 

"  Reductio  ad  absurdum,"  the  General  concluded, 
laughing  at  his  wife.  "  You  see  how  groundless 
are  your  fears.  I  think  it  is  ridiculous  not  to  trust 
our  daughter  to  keep  from  getting  moony  over 
privates  with  strange  histories.  But  who  told  you 
all  this,  Mother?  " 

;'  The  ever-useful  Adjutant,"  interposed  Nancy. 

"  He  did,  eh!    What  business  was  it  of  his?  " 

"  Official,  sir-r,"  said  Nancy,  making  a  mock 
salute. 

"  That  goes  to  support  my  later  observations  that 
that  young  man  is  a  duffer.  I  don't  want  him  on 
my  staff  any  longer.  I'll  send  him  back  to  his  regi- 
ment." 

Mrs.  Berkeley  had  learned  from  experience  that 
119 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

when  her  husband  was  in  a  certain  mood  her  point 
could  be  gained  in  the  end  only  by  saying  nothing 
at  the  time.  She  determined  that  she  would  wait 
and  watch  in  martyrlike  humility. 

As  Nancy  found  that  she  could  not  leave  the 
house  unaccompanied,  she  concluded  to  forego  her 
visits  to  the  hospital  until  her  mother  should  forget 
her  vigil  and  relapse  again  into  the  afternoon  naps 
which  she  was  now  demonstratively  denying  her- 
self. In  fact,  Nancy's  determination  to  get  the 
private's  story  from  his  own  lips  was  stronger  than 
ever,  and  she  was  as  yet  conscious  of  no  other  in- 
terest in  him. 

Saunders  missed  her  calls  more  than  he  cared  to 
say  to  Mrs.  Gerlison,  but  not  more  than  Mrs.  Gerli- 
son  implied  from  the  manner  in  which  he  took  in 
any  remarks  she  made  about  Nancy.  Indeed,  Mrs. 
Gerlison  was  becoming  worried  lest  Nancy's  and  her 
own  foolishness  had  prepared  fresh  miseries  for  one 
who  must  have,  on  his  part,  quite  all  he  ought  to 
bear.  She  was  even  pondering  on  a  plan  of  cam- 
paign for  getting  Nancy  out  of  his  mind. 

The  time  came  when  he  was  well  enough  to 
join  the  pale  company  of  convalescents  from  fever 
and  wounds  who  go  out  on  the  Luneta  at  seven  in 
the  evening,  when  the  sun  partly  atones  for  the 

1 20 


ROMANCE   OF   PRIVATE   SAUNDERS 

tyranny  of  the  long,  galling  day  by  sinking  into 
the  bay  with  a  glory  of  coloring  that  surpasses  any 
conception  of  dwellers  in  temperate  zones.  To 
Saunders  the  gay  parade  of  carriages  with  officers 
and  their  wives  up  and  down  the  Malecon  brought 
home  to  him,  even  more  bitterly  than  before,  how 
completely  he  was  separated  from  the  world  to 
which  he  was  accustomed.  He  did  not  join  the 
other  sick  men  who  sit  in  chairs  or  walk  up  and 
down  by  the  band-stand,  but,  regardless  of  his 
weakness,  crossed  the  driveway  to  the  long  stretch 
of  hard,  sandy  beach.  Here  he  recognized  a  familiar 
figure  bending  over  the  antics  of  a  fox  terrier. 
When  the  terrier  started  to  investigate  the  passer- 
by, Nancy  looked  up  into  Saunders's  eyes. 

"  I  left  the  carriage  to  give  Biff  and,  incidentally, 
myself,  a  little  exercise,"  she  said.  "  Oh,  I  am  so 
glad  to  see  that  you  are  well  enough  to  be  out !  " 

"  Thank  you,"  he  replied.  "  Were  you  going  this 
way?"  forgetting  completely  his  position  and  the 
resolution  he  had  made  after  his  experience  at  the 
ball. 

As  to  what  passed  between  them  as  they  walked 
up  and  down  the  beach,  oblivious  of  the  stares  of 
passing  officers,  while  the  growing  darkness  made 
them  unrecognizable  from  the  drive,  our  only  infor- 

121 


THE   WAYS  OF   THE   SERVICE 

mation  comes  from  Nancy's  own  report  to  her  father 
and  mother,  who  had  waited  for  her  long  after  the 
band  ceased  playing  and  until  theirs  was  the  only 
carriage  remaining  on  the  Luneta.  She  came  to 
them  with  the  light  step  and  the  cheery  confidence 
of  youth  in  the  full  measure  of  a  new-born  happi- 
ness. 

"  It  took  some  time  for  us  to  understand  each 
other,"  she  said,  simply. 

"  Who?    Understand  who?"  from  her  mother. 

"  Mr.  Saunders  and  I — Private  Saunders  and  I, 
of  course." 

Mrs.  Berkeley  was  not  the  woman  to  faint.  She 
listened  all  but  speechlessly  to  her  daughter's  nar- 
rative, while  the  General  silently  stroked  his  mus- 
tache, as  he  always  did  in  a  crisis. 

"  He  asked  me  if  I  loved  him.  He  said  he 
wouldn't  tell  me  his  story  until  I  answered.  I  told 
him  yes,  though  I  admit  that  I  thought — and  I  hate 
myself  for  it — I  might  backslide  if  the  story  was 
bad." 

"  Was  it  bad?  "  from  her  father. 

"  Not  very.  That's  what  he  told  me  to  say,  and 
that's  just  it,  and  I'm  not  to  tell  his  story  to  any- 
one. I  wouldn't  have  told  you  we  were  engaged 
only  tie  said  I  was  to  let  you  and  Mrs.  Gerlison 

122 


ROMANCE   OF   PRIVATE   SAUNDERS 

know  that  much,  and  you  were  not  to  let  it  go 
any  farther." 

"  It  won't !  "  from  father  and  mother  together. 

"  Yes,  Jack  said  he  was  sure  it  wouldn't."  She 
laughed  lightly,  then  added,  more  seriously:  "  We 
walked  up  and  down  as  he  told  me  the  story,  for- 
getting all  about  the  time.  How  well  he  talked! 
And  we  parted  with  an  understanding  which  will 
endure  forever.  Though  we  didn't  even  kiss." 

"I  should  hope  not!"  devoutly  from  her 
mother. 

"  But  we  shall  some  time,  many  times,  Mamma. 
We  were  too  earnest  for  that.  We  just  pressed 
each  other's  hands.  We  understood.  The  con- 
tract was  sealed." 

The  weight  of  the  calamity  was  such  as  not  to 
permit  of  its  verbal  consideration  in  an  open  car- 
riage. The  father  and  mother  discussed  it  far  into 
the  night  in  their  room,  while  their  daughter  slept 
peacefully,  as  confident  as  a  corps  with  a  division 
in  the  reserve  which  is  forcing  the  enemy  from  his 
position.  The  parental  plan  had  complete  separa- 
tion of  the  couple  as  a  first  premise.  And  thus 
Nancy  stole  their  thunder  after  the  greeting  at  the 
breakfast-table : 

"  I  suppose  you  are  going  to  have  Jack  trans- 
123 


THE   WAYS  OF   THE   SERVICE 

ferred  to  the  Fifteenth  in  Southern  Mindanao, 
Father?  " 

"  Precisely,"  was  the  reply. 

"  Jack  said  he  thought  that  was  what  you  woulcl 
do.  And,  Daddy  dear,  we  are  not  such  poor  tac- 
ticians as  not  to  be  prepared  to  meet  routine  emer- 
gencies. If  you  do  transfer  him  I  shall  publicly 
announce  our  engagement.  Then  I  shall  ask  Mrs. 
Gerlison  to  take  me  in.  Jack  can " 

"  Jack !  "     A  shudder  from  Mrs.  Berkeley. 

"  To  be  dignified,  I  should  say  that  Mr.  Saunders 
can  let  me  have  his  pay,  and  I  can  earn  more.  As 
you  know,  Mother,  there  is  a  great  demand  for  a 
milliner — a  good  milliner — in  Manila.  And  with 
the  influence  of  Father's  name  to  help  me  I'm  sure 
I  could  get  on." 

This  ultimatum  put  altogether  a  new  aspect  on 
affairs.  Mrs.  Berkeley  followed  the  General  to  his 
carriage,  where  they  had  a  whispered  consultation, 
while  Nancy  leisurely  sipped  her  coffee,  broke  her 
roll  into  tiny  mouthfuls,  and  smiled  both  at  her  own 
thoughts  and  at  the  situation.  Finally,  the  General 
told  his  wife  that  they  had  best  let  the  matter 
stand  until  tiffin.  Departing  with  the  intention  of 
going  straight  to  head-quarters,  his  pursuit  of  the 
vital  subject  of  his  daughter's  welfare,  which  he 

124 


ROMANCE   OF   PRIVATE   SAUNDERS 

could  not  banish  from  his  mind,  led  him  to  change 
his  directions  to  his  driver  to  the  Calle  Nozaleda. 
He  would  not  have  admitted  even  to  himself  that 
he  had  more  confidence  in  Mrs.  Gerlison's  opinion 
on  such  matters  than  in  his  wife's  or  his  own.  She 
had  keen  ears,  indeed,  for  the  great  news  he  bore, 
and  did  not  forget  that  she — ever  a  conscientious 
woman — was,  perhaps,  in  some  measure  responsible 
for  this  romantic  outcome  of  Mrs.  Waindeering's 
caprice.  She  cupped  her  chin  in  her  hands  and 
thought  seriously,  while  her  black  eyes  danced  with 
interest. 

"  When  it  comes  to  us  old  women,"  she  said, 
"it's  possible;  but  with  girls  it's  different.  They 
are  like  the  men — easier  led  than  driven.  Nancy's 
resolution  is  pretty  firm  already,  I  take  it,  and  if 
you  wish  to  make  it  rockbound  I  think  that  Saun- 
ders's  transfer  is  precisely  the  move.  As  for  her  com- 
ing to  live  with  me,  you  know  that  the  right  of  host- 
age is  sacred  on  the  part  of  a  neutral." 

'  Yes,  but  that  doesn't  tell  me  how  to  pro- 
ceed." 

"  Oh,  if  it's  advice,  you  know  I  never  give  that 
unless  I  am  asked." 

'That's  why  so  many  ask,  possibly,"  said  the 
General. 

125 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

"  Perhaps.  Rarity  means  price.  Well,  I  bid  you 
also  consider  that  crossing  a  woman's  true  love  fre- 
quently means  a  life  of  misery  for  her." 

How  feelingly  Mrs.  Gerlison  could  speak  on  that 
subject  the  Service  well  knew,  and  you  shall  know 
later. 

"  Nancy  is  a  good  girl  and  a  sensible  girl,  I  think. 
Time  will  prove  whether  or  not  she  loves  Saunders. 
And,  after  all,  this  young  man — I  like  his  looks. 
Yes,  I  do  like  his  looks,  and  I  must  say  I'm  not  so 
often  deceived.  He  may  be  an  F.  F.  V.  Mrs.  Wain- 
deering  is.  How  I  love  that  woman!  What  a 
woman  she  will  be  when  she  matures,  while  her  hus- 
band is  going  to  wither  up  till  he  creaks  and  rattles. 
Or,  let  us  hope  that,  better  than  an  F.  F.  V.,  he's  a 
millionaire's  son  under  discipline.  At  all  events,  if 
he  was  so  bad  and  deceitful,  why  shouldn't  he  have 
kept  the  engagement  secret  and  not  informed  you? 
Don't  you  see  he  could  if  he  wanted  to?  Or,  if  he 
was  so  very  wicked  why  shouldn't  he  want  it  gener- 
ally known?  His  desire  that  it  be  kept  within — 
well,  within  the  family — shows  a  sense  of  delicacy 
and  suggests  that  he  is  confident  of  the  outcome. 
If  I  were  you  I  would  try  to  get  Nancy  to  tell  the 
story,  and  I  would  trust  her  a  little  more.  It  might 
be  apropos,  if  it  were  not  embarrassing,  to  say  that 

126 


ROMANCE   OF   PRIVATE   SAUNDERS 

she  has  a  great  many  of  your  own  sterling  qualities, 
General." 

"  She  is  my  daughter."  The  General  stroked  his 
mustache,  which  he  always  did  when  he  was  ex- 
tremely pleased  with  himself  as  surely  as  in  a  crisis. 

"  To  separate  them  means  perhaps  that  she  will 
continue  to  love  him  out  of  contrariness  when  there 
is  no  sound  basis  for  true  love.  To  put  them  con- 
tinually together  would  settle  the  matter  perma- 
nently. That  being  impossible,  let  him  return  to 
his  regiment,  let  them  write  to  each  other  if  they 
wish,  and  hold  quietly  to  the  status  quo.  I  will  tell 
a  little  story  about  some  manly  deed  of  Mr.  Saun- 
ders  in — well,  in  saving  Mrs.  Waindeering's  life — 
Mrs.  Waindeering  being  a  friend  of  ours — and 
noblesse  oblige  to  one  who  has  seen  better  days,  and 
so  on — or  a  whiter  fib  if  I  can  invent  it — which  will 
account  for  Nancy's  visits  to  the  hospital  and  dis- 
pose of  gossip,  while,  of  course,  she  can't  go  to 
Bulacan  to  see  him.  And  don't  you  think  that  if  he 
had  done  anything  very  bad  it  will  come  out  before 
his  enlistment  expires?  " 

As  he  drove  away,  the  General  was  almost  in  a 
mood  to  clap  Saunders  on  the  shoulder  and  call  him 
son. 

At  the  tiffin  hour  he  went  directly  to  Nancy,  and, 
127 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

taking  her  hands  in  his,  said,  in  the  manner  of 
comradeship: 

"  Your  daddy  thinks  only  of  your  interests.  He 
recognizes  fully  that  the  choice  of  your  husband  lies 
entirely  within  your  department.  So  we'll  wait  and 
see  how  it  all  turns  out.  But  won't  you  tell  me  Mr. 
Saunders's  story?  " 

"  No." 

"Why  not?" 

"  Because  I  promised  him  not  to." 

"  Then  will  you  promise  me  not  to  get  married 
till  you  have  convinced  me — not  your  mother — just 
me?  And  I'll  not  be  so  hard  to  convince!  " 

"  I'll  ask  him"  she  said. 

The  note  bearing  the  question  to  Hospital  Num- 
ber i  received  this  reply : 

"  Certainly.  Up  to  the  time  my  enlistment  ex- 
pires. But  not  after  that." 

This  was  satisfactory  to  the  General,  and,  there- 
fore, perforce,  to  Mrs.  Berkeley.  Meanwhile,  Mrs. 
Gerlison,  who  was  becoming  more  and  more  an  ally 
of  the  private,  was  going  to  try  for  a  commission  for 
Saunders.  Once  he  had  bars  on  his  shoulders,  he 
was  anybody's  social  equal.  The  first  move  in  her 
campaign,  as  her  strained  curiosity  was  quick  to 
suggest,  was  to  get  Saunders's  record.  However, 

128 


ROMANCE   OF   PRIVATE   SAUNDERS 

when  she  spoke  to  him  about  the  matter  he  replied 
that  he  did  not  care  for  a  commission,  and  begged 
her  to  go  no  farther.  This — for  reasons  of  his  own, 
as  he  said — could  not  but  strengthen  the  fear  that, 
after  all,  there  was  something  in  his  history  from 
which  he  had  sought  escape  in  the  oblivion  of  a 
recruiting  office. 

An  astonishing  cablegram  which  fully  supported 
this  conclusion  was  received  a  few  days  later  by 
head-quarters  from  the  police  of  San  Francisco.  It 
read: 

"  Hold  man  enlisted  Sixteenth  Infantry,  assumed 
name  John  Saunders,  supposed  embezzler.  Identi- 
fication photograph  mailed." 

Mrs.  Berkeley,  upon  reading  the  copy  which  the 
General  brought  home,  reminded  him  that  she  had 
always  said  forger,  and  patted  her  egoism  with  the 
thought  that  embezzler  was  much  the  same  thing. 
Both  the  General  and  his  wife  were  greatly  relieved, 
for  neither  now  had  any  doubt  of  the  end  of  the 
romance.  When,  after  a  wordy  introduction  meant 
to  ease  the  blow,  the  General  laid  the  abbreviated 
sentences  before  Nancy,  she  was  neither  angry  nor 
grieved.  She  smiled  contemptuously. 

"  It's  a  lie !  Or,  if  there  is  an  embezzler  in  the 
regiment,  it's  not  Jack." 

129 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

"  Then  you  still  intend  to " 

"  Of  course.  If  ever  a  man  needs  the  trust  of  the 
woman  he  is  going  to  marry  it's  when  everyone  else 
distrusts  him." 

Her  father  began  to  doubt  his  daughter's  sanity. 
Mrs.  Berkeley  conceived  the  idea  that  Saunders  was 
a  hypnotist  as  well  as  a  villain. 

While  her  parents  waited  in  misery  and  indecision 
for  the  arrival  of  the  photograph,  Nancy  continued 
to  face  all  doubts,  even  those  of  Mrs.  Gerlison,  with 
charming  serenity.  On  the  morning  of  the  day  set 
for  his  discharge  from  the  hospital,  Private  Saunders 
was  informed  that  he  would  be  detained  until  the 
chief  of  police's  letter  came.  He  smiled  by  way  of 
reply  with  a  confidence  that  had  a  counterpart  in 
that  of  a  stranger  of  middle  age  who  called  upon 
Captain  Leeds,  the  commanding  officer  of  the  hos- 
pital, that  afternoon.  Having  first  asked  for  Saun- 
ders, he  then  requested  an  account  of  how  the 
private  had  behaved  in  action  and  rubbed  his  hands 
in  delight  as  he  listened. 

"  Yes,"  Leeds  continued,  "  I  took  an  interest  in 
Saunders,  though  nobody  could  get  a  word  out  of 
him  as  to  who  he  was.  I  confess  that  I  felt  that 
cablegram  as  a  personal  blow." 

"What  cablegram?" 

130 


ROMANCE  OF   PRIVATE  SAUNDERS 

Leeds  explained. 

"  Rot !  rot !  That's  his  real  name,"  said  the  visitor 
warmly.  "  I  expected  to  find  bushels  of  debts  in 
'Frisco  and  couldn't  find  one.  He  may  be  wild, 
but  not  that.  Not  much.  It  isn't  in  the  blood." 

"  Then  you  aren't  a  detective?  " 

The  visitor  was  about  to  be  very  indignant.  On 
second  thought  he  burst  out  laughing  at  the  absurd- 
ity of  the  idea. 

"  But  look  here !  I'm  wasting  time.  I  came 
here  to  see  him,"  he  demanded. 

When  he  had  conducted  his  caller  to  Ward  I, 
Captain  Leeds  had  the  pleasure  of  being  a  witness 
to  the  meeting  of  a  millionaire  of  some  repute  in  the 
iron  and  steel  trade  and  his  only  son. 

"  My  boy,"  said  John  Saunders,  Sr.,  "  I  didn't 
think  you'd  finish  your  vacation  in  this  way  when  I 
refused  your  call  for  money  from  'Frisco.  I  only 
wanted  to  teach  you  a  little  economy.  But  I've  got 
your  discharge  in  my  pocket.  We  can  start  right 
back." 

"  Dad,  in  two  days  after  I  did  it  I  realized  what  a 
chump  I  was,  when  I  had  such  a  brick  for  a  father, 
to  enlist  as  a  private  when  I  ought  to  go  back  to  my 
last  year  at  Princeton.  Being  in  the  thing  I  con- 
cluded to  see  it  out  and  keep  my  place  in  the  ranks. 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

So  I  don't  want  the  discharge.  No,  I  don't  know 
but  I  do.  I  can  marry  Nancy  two  years  sooner, 
can't  I?" 


"  He  told  me  he  was  poor  but  honest  and  I  would 
have  to  wait  until  he  could  make  a  living  for  two," 
said  Nancy  when  she  heard  the  news.  "  Still,  I 
don't  think  Mamma  will  mind,  because  he  is  a 
millionaire." 


AS    MAN    TO    MAN 


AS    MAN    TO    MAN 

HATE  is  a  strong  word,  but  not  too  strong  for 
the  feeling  of  Private  Haines  of  the  Kansans 
toward  his  Captain.  It  was  the  most  uncomfortable 
kind  of  hate,  that  which  festers  in  a  rugged  and  out- 
spoken nature  by  the  compression  of  enforced  si- 
lence. Haines  had  been  a  month  in  the  home  com- 
pany of  militia  of  Blashton,  Gordon  long  enough 
to  be  its  commander,  when,  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
war,  a  small  town's  furor  of  patriotism  promised 
social  ostracism  for  any  young  man  who  did  not  en- 
list. In  the  national  organization,  Gordon  retained 
his  commission,  Haines  remained  in  the  ranks. 
Theirs  was  not  the  only  volunteer  company  that 
started  out  with  the  idea  that  war  stood  for  rollick- 
ing comradeship,  only  to  find  that  privates  were 
privates  and  officers  were  officers. 

Suffice  it  to  say  in  Haines's  case  that  he  and  the 
Captain  were  in  love  with  the  same  girl;  and,  more- 
over, that  Haines  had  last  seen  her  as  the  train  pulled 
out  of  Blashton  waving  her  handkerchief  to  the  offi- 
cers' car.  In  face  of  her  repeated  promises  to  write 
he  had  not  received  a  word  in  response  to  his  many 

135 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

letters.  Suspicion  had  grown  into  conviction  that 
Gordon  had  used  his  position  to  destroy  anything 
in  her  hand  addressed  to  him.  Brooding  on  the 
march  by  day  and  in  his  blankets  at  night  had  con- 
strued every  act  of  the  Captain  relating  to  himself 
into  one  of  spite. 

His  assignment  to  the  Pepperbox  was  the  crown- 
ing humiliation.  The  Pepperbox,  so  named  by  the 
Captain,  was  an  antiquated  harbor  launch  remodelled 
into  a  gun-boat  for  use  on  the  Laguna  de  Bay,  the 
big  lake  whose  waters  the  Pasig  carries  under  the 
bridges  of  Manila.  Nine  feet  beam  and  thirty  feet 
over  all,  with  a  leaky  boiler  and  a  sputtering  engine, 
a  native  pilot  and  a  native  engineer,  the  Pepperbox 
was  not  a  thing  of  flight;  though  painted  leaden, 
with  a  Colt's  automatic  fore  and  a  one-pounder  aft 
and  bulwarks  of  half-inch  sheet  iron,  she  was  not  a 
thing  of  power.  Gordon  had  been  chosen  for  her 
command  because  he  was  by  profession  a  steam- 
boat captain.  Haines  had  been  selected  for  one  of 
the  guard  of  five  soldiers  because  he  was  a  mechani- 
cal engineer.  As  Haines  reasoned,  however,  the 
Captain  merely  wanted  an  excuse  for  keeping  his 
rival  where  he  could  still  rub  the  vinegar  of  rank 
into  open  sores. 

Gordon  had  run  over  too  many  bars  in  the  Mis- 
136 


AS  MAN   TO   MAN 

souri  not  to  be  aggressive.  His  idea  was  to  stir  the 
insurgents  up  whenever  he  had  an  opportunity. 
That,  he  said,  kept  them  thinking.  The  Pepperbox's 
first  assignment  was  the  carrying  of  orders  to  Law- 
ton,  who  had  taken  an  expedition  by  water  to  Santa 
Cruz,  the  capital  of  Laguna  Province,'  half-way 
down  the  lake.  On  the  return  journey  Gordon  had 
stopped  at  Calamba,  where  he  had  enjoyed  himself 
for  half  an  hour  by  silencing  the  insurgent  trenches. 
When  he  reported  this  to  head-quarters  in  Manila, 
expecting  commendation  for  his  enterprise,  he  was 
told  in  decisive  language  that  his  business  was  to 
carry  despatches;  that  his  armament  was  meant 
only  to  assist  his  escape  in  case  of  trouble,  and, 
finally,  that  if  he  did  anything  of  the  sort  again  it 
would  go  hard  with  him. 

Therefore,  as  the  launch  re-entered  the  lake  at 
dawn  the  next  morning  he  was  not  only  as  irritable 
as  his  crew  from  loss  of  sleep,  but,  the  reproof  still 
rankling  in  his  mind,  he  was  in  a  mood  to  agree  with 
nobody.  He  told  himself  that  he  might  as  well  be 
crocheting  tidies  or  towing  coal  out  to  Dewey  as 
commanding  the  Pepperbox.  Without  any  hope  of 
excitement,  he  was  in  for  worry  all  day  and  worry 
all  night  and  complaints  at  both  ends  of  the  line  be- 
cause he  was  never  on  time. 

137, 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

While  he  sat  in  the  bow,  the  men  lounged  in 
cramped  positions  in  the  stern.  After  the  danger 
of  running  on  bars  at  the  entrance  of  the  river  was 
passed,  in  the  hope  of  getting  some  sleep  he 
stretched  himself  on  the  deck  with  the  platform  of 
the  Colt's  as  a  pillow,  and  called  to  Haines  to  let 
him  know  if  anything  unusual  happened. 

The  Pepperbox  chugged  on  with  Oriental  endur- 
ance. Every  throb  of  her  engine  affected  to  be  a 
despairing,  complaining  last.  It  was  some  time  be- 
fore Haines  noticed  that  the  pilot  was  taking  an 
altogether  different  course  from  the  two  previous 
trips.  When  finally  he  did  observe  that  the  launch 
was  well  into  the  centre  of  the  lake  and  pointing 
toward  the  right  shore  instead  of  the  left,  he  de- 
manded an  explanation  of  Manuel  the  pilot. 

"  All  same.  Go  straight.  No  go  round.  Mucho 
bueno  (very  good).  Me  savey  allri',"  was  the  reply 
in  a  mixture  of  "  pidgin  "  English  and  Spanish. 

Haines  would  have  said  no  more  if  he  had  not 
noticed  that  the  engineer  was  engrossed  in  the  con- 
versation. The  engineer  had  the  reputation  of  un- 
derstanding English  much  better  than  he  pretended. 
When  he  saw  that  Haines  was  looking  at  him  he 
became  most  animatedly  engaged  with  his  duties. 

"  I  believe  you're  up  to  some  deviltry,"  Haines 
138 


AS  MAN   TO   MAN 

exclaimed,  and,  forgetting  his  resolution,  he  seized 
the  Captain  by  the  arm  and  shook  him. 

The  Captain  woke  with  a  start  and  a  pounding 
headache.  He  instantly  looked  to  the  three  essen- 
tials and  found  that  the  launch  was  upright,  going 
at  her  usual  speed,  and  there  was  no  firing. 

"  Well,  what  is  it?  "  he  asked,  irritably. 

"  Every  time  before  we've  gone  just  under  the  lee 
of  that  island  yonder.  Now  we're  going  clear  to 
the  other  side  of  the  lake.  I  don't  believe  we've  got 
eight  feet  under  us." 

"  That's  all  right.  We  draw  only  four.  Manuel  " 
(to  the  pilot),  "  why  you  go  this  fashion?  We  no 
belong  over  there?  " 

Manuel's  jargon  stated  that  Santa  Cruz  lay 
straight  ahead  around  the  point  of  beach  and  the 
village  toward  which  the  Pepperbox  was  pointing. 
So  it  did.  He  had  previously  followed  the  track  of 
the  big  launches.  Now  he  was  taking  advantage 
of  the  launch's  light  draught  and  a  shallow  channel 
which  enabled  him  to  cut  off  five  miles. 

"  Yeh,"  piped  the  engineer,  too  absorbed  in  the 
subject  to  remember  that  he  was  ignorant  of  Eng- 
lish. "  Many  times  go  so  fashion.  All  time  all 
same  Spanish  time.  Me  savey.  No  can  go  fast, 
no  have  go  so  far.  Mucho  bueno,  eh?  " 

139 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

The  Captain  was  delighted  at  the  prospect  of  de- 
livering his  message  an  hour  less  tardily  than  he  had 
expected.  It  meant,  if  Lawton  was  very  tired,  that 
his  "  So  you  are  here,  eh?  "  would  be  a  little  more 
patient;  or,  if  he  was  in  good-humor,  his  "  Well!  I 
never  expected  you  back  with  that  thing,  Captain. 
What  did  you  do?  Walk  along  the  bank  and  tow 
her?  "  a  little  more  jovial. 

Haines  forgot  his  position.  He  was  conscious 
only  that  the  Captain  was  trying  to  argue  him  down. 

"  It's  the  first  I've  heard  of  this  channel,"  he  said. 
"  The  wonder  is  they  didn't  take  it  before.  It 
would  be  easy  enough  for  these  two  Gugus  to  run 
on  a  bar  and  leave  us  stuck  there  to  fight  it  out  with 
three  or  four  hundred  of  their  friends  that  lay  in 
hiding  to  jump  us." 

"  Nonsense !  They  know  that  if  they  attempted 
anything  of  the  sort  our  first  act  would  be  to  blow 
their  brains  out." 

"  Well,  a  good  many  of  'em  did  try  it  on  the  night 
of  February  4." 

"  That's  all,  Haines,"  remarked  the  Captain, 
sharply. 

Haines  made  a  salute  of  ironical  deference  which 
was  not  lost  on  his  superior. 

"  You,  Manuel,  and  you,  Engineer,  there,"  Gor- 
140 


AS   MAN   TO   MAN 

don  added,  tapping  his  revolver,  "  you  savey  you 
play  any  tricks — one,  two,  bang,  bang !  No  more 
Manuel,  no  more  engineer." 

"  Si,  si.  MucJio  bucno,"  replied  the  engineer. 
"  You  savey  me  long  time.  All  time  Americano. 
No  insurrecto.  Goddam  Aguinaldo.  He  no  good." 

Manuel  was  speechless  and  trembling  with  fear. 
His  appearance  and  the  engineer's  protestations 
quite  satisfied  the  Captain,  who  lay  down  on  the 
deck  again.  Manuel  began  timorously  to  change 
the  course.  But  his  hope  of  deceiving  the  engineer, 
who  was  grinning  with  confidence,  was  futile.  If 
the  Captain  had  known  what  the  engineer  said  in 
Tagal  to  Manuel  which  caused  him  to  point  the  bow 
dead  on  to  the  village  again,  he  would  have  rushed 
to  the  wheel  and  turned  it  hard  a-port  with  his  own 
hands.  Instead,  he  lay  idly  gazing  at  the  water,  a 
victim  of  the  difficulties  of  teaching  and  governing  a 
race  which  can  speak  treason  gleefully  to  the  faces  of 
their  rulers.  Meanwhile,  the  engineer  partially  un- 
covered something  he  had  hidden  in  the  coal  and 
felt  again  in  his  pocket  to  make  sure  that  his  matches 
were  there. 

The  Pepperbox  was  now  so  near  shore  that  the 
little  swells  were  breaking  on  the  long  beach  only  a 
few  yards  away.  The  Captain  at  the  same  time  as 

141 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

the  men,  saw  a  heavy  pole  stuck  in  the  bottom  of  the 
lake  standing  upright  ten  feet  above  the  surface  of 
the  water  and  directly  in  front  of  the  bow.  All 
called  to  Manuel  in  a  breath.  He  turned  the  launch 
sharply  on  the  inshore  of  this  mark,  which  had  been 
set  there  for  a  specific  purpose.  As  the  Captain 
sprang  to  his  feet  a  dozen  Mauser  bullets,  fired  from 
a  trench  on  shore,  cracked  by  and  the  Pepperbox 
grounded  and  keeled  over  on  her  side.  In  his  dis- 
gust, the  Captain  first  of  all  seized  Manuel,  who  was 
already  about  to  jump,  and  threw  him  overboard. 

"  Nolan,  you  can  handle  the  one-pounder 
alone !  "  he  cried.  "  I'll  take  care  of  the  Colt,  and 
every  man  Jack  of  the  rest  jump  in  and  push  her  off. 
Once  afloat,  we'll  coax  our  friends  out  here  up  to 
their  necks  and  then  throw  a  hailstorm  into  'em." 

The  men  were  in  the  water  and  had  their  shoul- 
ders against  the  hull  before  they  realized  that  the 
still  revolving  screw  was  driving  the  Pepperbox 
farther  and  farther  into  the  sand.  As  Haines 
straightened  up  and  yelled  to  the  engineer  to  know 
why  he  hadn't  reversed  the  engine,  he  saw  him  go- 
ing overboard  head  first.  Then  he  was  tossed  to 
one  side,  stunned  by  an  explosion  and  blinded  by 
coal-dust  and  spray. 

The  Captain  was  hurled  over  the  bow.  As  he 
142 


AS   MAN   TO   MAN 

wiped  the  water  out  of  his  eyes  and  looked  at  the 
cloud  of  steam  and  smoke  which  hung  over  the  re- 
mains of  the  Pepperbox  he  remarked,  in  his  Western 
drawl : 

"  Well,  the  crockery's  broken  now,  all  right." 
Then  he  saw  the  engineer  swimming  away,  and 
drew  his  revolver  and  put  a  bullet  through  the  engi- 
neer's head  at  the  second  shot.  That  poor  creature 
was  as  much  a  victim  as  a  culprit.  The  half-breed 
agitators  in  Manila,  too  cowardly  to  undertake  any 
masterly  deed  themselves,  had  assured  him  that  the 
explosion  would  kill  everybody  on  board,  while  he 
could  save  his  own  life  by  merely  jumping  out  into 
the  lake  after  lighting  the  fuse.  He  knew  nothing 
of  the  nature  of  dynamite,  which  they  had  smuggled 
in  from  Hong-Kong  through  Chinese  merchants. 
They  knew  nothing  of  the  nature  of  dynamite,  with 
the  difference  that  they  pretended  to  know  every- 
thing. It  was  easy  for  him  to  believe  all  they  said 
in  a  land  so  long  tongue-tied  by  Spanish  rule  as  to 
make  bold  and  imaginative  lying  under  the  new 
order  of  things  the  open  way  to  insurgent  leader- 
ship. 

The  fate  of  Manuel  was  worse  than  that  of  the 
engineer.  He  was  so  frightened  by  the  decisive 
manner  in  which  the  Captain  threw  him  overboard 

143 


;  THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

that  he  forgot  everything  except  awe  of  the  white 
man's  presence  and  will  to  do  the  white  man's  bid- 
ding. He  had  placed  his  shoulder  against  the  hull 
at  the  very  point  where  the  concussion  burst  the 
sides.  His  terribly  mangled  body  served  as  a 
buffer  which  saved  the  life  of  Haines,  who  was 
standing  partially  behind  him  as  he  called  to  the 
engineer. 

Haines's  eyebrows  were  singed,  his  face  and 
shoulder  cut,  the  top  of  his  hat  sliced  off  by  a  flying 
piece  of  the  boiler,  his  shirt  torn  and  his  face  black- 
ened. Nolan  lay  on  the  deck,  the  smoke-stack 
across  his  stomach  and  a  sliver  of  steel  through  his 
forehead.  His  gun  was  dismounted  and  lying  in 
the  water.  Simmons,  standing  nearly  opposite  to 
Manuel  on  the  other  side  of  the  launch,  met  an 
equally  sudden  death.  Worley,  gashed  and  badly 
burned,  was  still  alive.  He  had  regained  his  feet 
and  stood  begging  piteously  for  someone  to  put  an 
end  to  his  agony.  Smith  and  Haines  alone  of  the 
crew  were  fit  for  duty. 

Gordon  had  grasped  the  situation  at  once,  but 
not  before  he  heard  a  shout  from  the  shore  and 
saw  forty  or  fifty  insurgents  rushing  out  from  it. 
Smith  and  Haines  could  lay  hands  upon  only  one 
rifle  in  condition  for  use.  While  Haines  took  that, 

144 


AS  MAN  TO  MAN 

with  the  body  of  the  launch  as  a  breastwork,  Smith 
helped  poor  Worley  into  the  larger  of  the  two  bancas 
(dugouts)  which  were  towed  by  the  Pepperbox,  and 
did  what  he  could  to  relieve  his  pain.  With  odds 
of  fifty  against  two,  Gordon  naturally  chose  the 
lesser  evil  of  being  killed  with  his  face  instead  of  his 
back  toward  the  enemy.  He  clutched  at  the  mech- 
anism of  the  Colt — which  still  stood,  though  with 
the  bolts  of  its  support  loosened,  on  the  tilted  plat- 
form of  the  deck — as  a  dying  man  clutches  at  a  straw. 
It  was  in  working  order.  A  hundred  rounds  of  am- 
munition remained.  The  rest  had  been  destroyed 
by  the  explosion. 

"  One  Colt  is  good  for  a  regiment,"  said  Gordon. 
"  Haines,  wait  until  they  get  up  close !  Wait  till  I 
give  the  word !  " 

On  the  insurgents  came,  yelling  triumphantly  as 
they  splashed  through  the  water,  while  the  Captain 
waited,  his  finger  on  the  trigger  and  his  eye  glanc- 
ing along  the  barrel.  When  they  were  within  fifty 
yards  he  fired  one  shot  to  make  sure  of  his  aim.  It 
was  right.  He  jammed  the  elevating  lever  hard  on. 

"  Now!  "  he  cried  to  Haines;  and  while  Haines's 
rifle  cracked,  tat-tat-tat  the  Colt  spoke,  as  its  barrel 
swung  back  and  forth,  distributing  with  mathemati- 
cal impartiality  its  stream  of  leaden  pellets. 

145 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

This  was  a  bitter  and  tragic  surprise  for  the  ad- 
vancing manikins.  The  messenger  from  the  great 
minds  in  Manila  which  had  evolved  the  great  plan 
said  that  all  the  manikins  would  have  to  do  after 
the  explosion  was  to  take  possession  of  the  wreck 
and  corpses.  Some  fired  back;  some  fell  in  the  man- 
ner of  a  man  who  trips  over  a  wire  in  the  dark;  and 
in  a  moment  all  who  were  not  dead  or  wounded 
scampered  back  to  the  cover  of  their  trench. 

Gordon  did  not  hear  the  few  bullets  which  passed 
as  he  fully  exposed  himself  according  to  the  Ameri- 
can precept  that  a  shield  for  a  machine  gun  pre- 
vents good  marksmanship.  He  followed  the  re- 
treating foe  with  enough  fire  to  bring  the  lesson 
home.  Then  he  counted  the  cartridges  remaining 
in  the  belt,  sixteen  in  all. 

"  How  many  shots  have  you  left? "  he  asked 
Haines. 

"  Ten,"  was  the  reply. 

The  Captain  looked  around  in  all  directions,  as  if 
to  ascertain  what  next  was  in  store  for  him.  Be- 
hind a  bluff  three  miles  or  more  away  he  saw  a  col- 
umn of  smoke.  He  knew  that  this  must  come  from 
the  stack  of  the  Gasman,  a  much  larger  improvised 
gun-boat,  which  was  proceeding  in  his  direction. 
A  quarter  of  a  mile  away  from  the  village,  along  the 

146 


AS   MAN   TO   MAN 

road  leading  from  the  interior,  he  saw  a  column  of 
about  two  hundred  insurgents  at  the  double  quick. 
In  the  second  and  more  determined  attack  which 
was  sure  to  come  they  could  reach  the  wreck  of  the 
Pepperbox,  despite  all  he  could  do  with  his  sixteen 
cartridges,  long  before  the  Gasman,  which  carried 
a  twelve-pounder,  two  six-pounders,  and  two  Colt's, 
would  be  in  range. 

"  Haines,  you  and  Smith  take  Worley  in  the  large 
banco,  and  make  for  the  centre  of  the  lake.  The 
Gasman  will  pick  you  up.  I'll  remain  here." 

"  Don't  do  that,  Captain,"  Smith  protested,  while 
Haines  in  silence  took  a  water-soaked  cigar  from  his 
pocket  and  began  chewing  it  vigorously. 

"  Orders!  "  the  Captain  rasped. 

Smith  had  a  mother  at  home  to  whom  he  was 
sending  ten  dollars  of  his  "  $15.60  per."  His  death 
meant  that  she  would  be  sent  to  the  poorhouse.  He 
obeyed.  Before  going  he  secured  Nolan's  watch 
and  a  few  trinkets  to  give  to  Nolan's  sweetheart 
at  home.  Haines  still  stood  in  the  water  with 
his  rifle  on  the  deck  in  front  of  him,  chewing  his 
cigar. 

"Ain't  you  comin'?"  called  Smith. 

"  No,"  he  replied. 

"  Man,  you  must,"  said  the  Captain.  "  If  you 
147 


THE   WAYS  OF   THE   SERVICE 

don't  you'll  be  killed  or  taken  prisoner,  and  that's 
worse." 

"  So  will  you.  I'm  going  to  stay,  orders  or  no 
orders,  by  G !  " 

"  All  right,"  the  Captain  assented.  "  Go  on, 
Smith." 

Gordon  was  touched  by  what  he  took  for  Haines's 
loyalty.  He  now  blamed  himself  for  holding  the 
grudge  of  rivalry  against  the  private — but  not  for 
long.  Haines  leaped  up  on  the  deck  as  soon  as 
Smith  had  paddled  out  of  hearing.  He  threw  his 
cigar  into  the  water  and  turned  on  the  Captain. 

"  I've  stayed  for  satisfaction,  that's  what  I've 
stayed  for ! "  he  said.  "  There's  time  enough,  if 
you've  got  any  sand,  for  you  to  stand  up  to  me, 
you "  and  he  used  an  expression  which  is  un- 
answerable in  words. 

"  Certainly,"  Gordon  responded  quickly,  laying 
aside  his  revolver  to  give  himself  greater  freedom. 

"  And  those  bars  you  set  such  store  by,"  said 
Haines,  indicating  by  a  glance  the  Captain's  shoul- 
der-straps. 

"  Don't  you  take  my  word  there's  no  rank  in 
this?  "  He  tore  off  his  open  blouse,  thus  divesting 
himself  of  authority.  "  There,  d n  you !  " 

Such  was  his  rage  that  Haines,  poised  on  the  balls 
148 


AS   MAN   TO   MAN 

of  his  feet,  did  not  wait  for  the  Captain  to  assume  a 
position  of  readiness,  but  struck  at  his  jaw  with  all 
the  initiative  at  his  command.  Gordon  ducked 
enough  to  prevent  it  from  landing  fairly,  and  in- 
stantly grappled  with  his  adversary.  Haines  was 
somewhat  proficient  in  boxing,  while  the  Captain 
knew  only  of  the  rough-and-tumble  tricks  of  boy- 
hood days  in  a  country  town.  Haines  was  the  more 
agile;  Gordon  was  of  sturdier  frame,  bigger  bones 
and  harder  muscles. 

All  oblivious  of  the  bullets  which  were  again  be- 
ing fired  from  the  trench,  they  grappled,  each  bend- 
ing all  his  energy  to  overcome  his  adversary  before 
the  enemy  should  overcome  them  both.  Gradually 
Gordon's  superior  strength  began  to  tell.  Realiz- 
ing this,  Haines  tried  to  break  away  in  order  to  strike 
a  blow.  The  result  was  to  give  Gordon  a  good  hip 
hold.  With  Gordon  uppermost,  the  two  fell  against 
the  platform  of  the  Colt.  Such  was  the  impact  that 
the  loosened  bearings  gave  way,  precipitating  the 
combatants  into  the  water.  With  them  went  their 
last  hope  of  defence,  the  rifle  as  well  as  the  gun. 

Their  positions  being  reversed  by  the  fall,  Haines 
was  the  first  to  rise.  As  he  waited  an  instant  for 
Gordon  to  come  up  he  heard  the  yells  and  splashing 
of  the  insurgents  as  they  approached  in  their  second 

149 


THE   WAYS   OF  THE   SERVICE 

charge.  Gordon  made  a  staggering  effort  to  ward 
off  the  blow  aimed  at  him.  As  his  fist  came  in  con- 
tact with  a  bare  spot  where  the  army  shirt  was  torn 
away  from  Gordon's  shoulder,  Haines  saw  a  red 
blotch  which  told  him  of  a  bullet  that  had  just  en- 
tered the  flesh.  At  the  sight  of  it  came  a  swamping 
sense  of  repugnance  to  the  hatred  and  anger  which 
had  been  in  his  heart.  He  had  struck  a  wounded 
man  who  was  making  a  fair  fight.  He  felt  the  buoy- 
ancy of  strength  and  sympathy  to  protect  Gordon's 
life  against  all  comers.  As  he  lifted  his  adversary 
from  the  water  he  asked  hoarsely  for  forgiveness. 

"  Take  the  banca!  Save  yourself!  "  the  Captain 
whispered.  "  It's  all  right  for  me.  I  must  stay. 
I  can't  go  back  to  face  the  regiment  or  the  folks  at 
home  after  a  smash  like  this.  But  finish  me!  I 
don't  want  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  those  sav- 
ages! " 

Haines  made  no  answer  except  immediate  action 
upon  a  plan  for  escape.  He  carried  Gordon  to  the 
stern  of  the  Pepperbox,  and  swinging  the  banca 
around  so  that  the  hull  would  be  out  of  sight  of  the 
insurgents,  turned  it  bottom  side  up  and  succeeded 
in  getting  the  Captain  and  himself  underneath  it  just 
as  the  insurgents  reached  the  wreck.  By  half  kneel- 
ing, half  standing,  in  a  painfully  cramped  position, 

150 


AS   MAN  TO   MAN 

they  could  breathe,  with  the  backs  of  their  heads 
under  water  and  their  faces  out  of  it. 

The  enemy  first  of  all  busied  themselves  with  the 
most  important  feature  of  their  warfare — sacking 
the  pockets  of  the  dead  before  stripping  them  of 
their  clothing,  and  slashing,  kicking,  and  spitting  on 
the  nude  bodies.  Haines  was  congratulating  him- 
self that  they  would  not  be  discovered  when  a  man- 
ikin leaped  upon  the  bottom  of  the  banca.  Their 
heads  were  driven  under  water,  and  rose  out  of  it  to 
see  two  brown  legs  very  near  their  own  and  a  pair 
of  brown  hands  on  the  gunwale.  With  his  free  arm 
Haines  prepared  to  strike  as  soon  as  the  manikin 
should  try  to  overturn  their  poor  fortress.  At  that 
moment  there  was  a  great  splash  not  far  distant. 
The  brown  legs  leaped  upon  the  deck.  Then  came 
a  hurtling  swish. 

"  That  one  passed  over,"  Haines  whispered  cheer- 
fully. 

Then  came  a  crack-ung-thr-t-t-t ! 

The  Gasman,  coming  on  with  the  speed  of  her 
Captain's  wrath,  had  burst  its  third  shrapnel  fairly 
above  the  wreck;  and  the  insurgents  sought  the 
shore. 

As  Captain  and  private,  both  too  weak  to  stand, 
lay  on  the  deck  of  the  Gasinan,  her  commander 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

brought  a  letter  to  Gordon  which  had  been  sent  care 
of  the  division  instead  of  the  regiment.  After  he 
had  read  it  Gordon  looked  over  to  Haines. 

"  Jim,"  he  said,  using  the  familiar  address  for  the 
first  time  since  they  left  Blashton,  "  Jim,  I  guess  the 
war  fever  has  died  out  in  Kansas.  My  sister  Minnie 
says  the  girl  we've  been  scrapping  over  is  engaged 
to  Hicks,  the  lawyer,  who  stayed  at  home." 


152 


A  BATTLE  AND  A  QUARREL 


A    BATTLE    AND    A    QUARREL 

THE  nickname  of  "Plain  John  Dobbins," 
which  he  acquired  at  the  Academy,  and  also 
the  essentials  of  his  sober  yeomanry  stock,  still 
clung  to  him  as  a  captain  of  regular  cavalry  twenty 
years  after  his  graduation. 

His  courtship  had  been  characteristic.  He  began 
by  earnest  and  almost  embarrassing  devotion  to  a 
beautiful  and  popular  girl,  who  deprecated  his  suit 
only  to  accept  him  when  she  had  sounded  the  depths 
of  his  character  with  the  deep-sea  lead  of  a  love 
whose  existence  she  had  been  slow  to  recognize. 

The  Spanish  War  found  them  fifteen  years  mar- 
ried. She  followed  him  to  Tampa;  and  met  him, 
his  arm  in  a  sling,  at  Montauk,  with  her  hair  almost 
white  from  having  killed  him  at  least  twice  a  day  and 
ten  times  a  night  during  his  absence. 

"  I  know  I'm  foolish  about  John,"  she  told  a 
young  officer  in  the  Adjutant-General's  office,  "  but 
I  just  can't  help  it." 

After  Montauk  there  was  a  period  of  rest  in  the 
home  barracks  in  Dakota,  and  then  orders  to  the 

155 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

wearing  business  of  making  our  hold  on  tropical 
possessions  more  than  titular.  Two  months  after 
the  Captain  had  sailed  for  the  Philippines  she  left 
San  Francisco.  If  she  had  not  been  a  day  at  sea 
when  his  troop  (dismounted),  attached  to  the  Sixty- 
third  Volunteer  Infantry,  was  ordered  to  the  Cama- 
rines  Provinces,  which  are  two  days'  sail  from  Ma- 
nila, he  would  have  cabled  her  to  remain  in  the 
States.  He  left  a  letter  with  a  friend  telling  her  to 
wait  for  further  word  as  to  the  practicability  of  join- 
ing him.  She  arrived  to  find  that  one  woman  had 
already  gone  to  the  Camarines.  This  was  the  wife 
of  her  husband's  old  Lieutenant,  who  had  a  "  Mex  " 
commission  as  Major  in  the  Sixty-third. 

"  Where  Mrs.  Lane  can  go,  I  can  go,"  said  Mrs. 
Dobbins. 

A  kindly  Quartermaster,  without  asking  the  com- 
manding General  for  permission  (because  he  knew 
that  it  would  be  refused),  put  her  aboard  a  transport 
which  was  sailing  immediately.  In  four  days  after 
she  had  set  foot  in  Manila  she  was  at  Brigade  Head- 
quarters in  Nueva  Caceres.  There,  she  asked  the 
general  not  to  telegraph  her  husband  lest  he  should 
tell  her  to  wait  until  he  could  come  for  her.  On 
the  afternoon  of  the  fifth  day,  after  a  ride  of  thirty 
miles  in  dust  and  heat,  the  driver  of  the  army  wagon 

156 


A   BATTLE   AND   A   QUARREL 

which  carried  her  and  the  mail  drove  into  the  little 
plaza  of  the  town  of  Lingat,  in  a  dramatic  manner 
worthy  of  the  occasion,  pulling  up  short  with  the 
side  of  the  seat  occupied  by  Mrs.  Dobbins  next  to 
the  door  of  the  municipal  building. 

"  You're  awfully  thin,  John !  "  she  exclaimed,  as 
she  looked  up  through  her  tears  at  her  idol. 

"  Worked  off  my  fat,  girl,"  he  said.  "  That's  all. 
I'm  as  tough  and  healthy  as  a  cayuse.  As  long  as  I 
get  enough  saddle  it  doesn't  matter  whether  I'm 
in  the  Dakotas  at  forty  below,  or  in  the  Camarines 
at  a  hundred  in  the  shade.  You  see  they've  spread 
the  Regulars  out  as  usual.  My  troop's  in  three 
towns  and  I  have  a  thirty-mile  gallop  every  day." 

He  did  not  notice  that  she  had  grown  more  gray 
and  wrinkled  since  he  last  saw  her.  She  would  al- 
ways be  young  to  him. 

Picking  their  way  among  the  Quartermaster's 
stores  and  the  troop  equipments  in  the  basement, 
he  led  her  up  the  rickety  stairs  into  the  four  living- 
rooms,  where  the  Filipino  servants,  who  had 
watched  from  the  window  with  many  wriggles  and 
gesticulations  the  embrace  of  a  strange  white 
"  Americano  "  lady — the  first  they  had  ever  seen — 
by  their  master,  now  stood  in  a  line  of  grins,  white 
shirts  and  trousers,  and  naked  brown  feet  and 

157 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

greeted  her  with  profound  bows  and  "  Good-day, 
Sefiora!" 

"  So  this  is  our  palace  and  these  are  our  depend- 
ents, John !  "  she  said,  as  she  began  to  look  the  place 
over.  Palace !  A  mental  note  of  the  shabbiness  of 
the  quarters,  compared  to  those  of  Mrs.  Lane  at 
Bigao,  made  her  hasten  to  say,  the  more  cheerfully: 
"  We  shall  be  as  comfortable  as  two  bugs  in  a  rug — 
I  mean  as  comfortable  as  bugs  on  ice.  Heavens! 
Isn't  it  scorching !  I  made  the  driver  start  at  2  A.M., 
so  that  I  wouldn't  have  to  stop  at  Mrs.  Lane's  for 
tiffin,  and  could  be  with  you.  I'm  hungry  as  a 
bear." 

John  bounded  into  the  kitchen,  whereupon  the 
three  servants  ceased  staring  and  hastened  the  prep- 
aration of  the  meal. 

"  And  so  you  didn't  want  to  tiffin  with  Mrs. 
Lane?  "  he  asked,  in  order  to  hear  her  say  again 
how  anxious  she  was  to  be  with  him. 

•"  No.  I  wanted  to  have  a  look  at  my  big  hus- 
band again.  And  I  don't  like  Mrs.  Lane.  Why, 
that  young  thing  is  putting  on  the  airs  of  a  general's 
wife  over  her  Mex  rank !  Is  it  true,  John,  that  you 
are  supposed  to  salute  him?  " 

"  Yes,  his  volunteer  commission  makes  him  my 
superior  officer." 

158 


A   BATTLE   AND  A   QUARREL 

"  That  boy,  whom  you  taught  all  the  soldiering 
that  he  knows !  And  do  you  actually  have  to  take 
orders  from  him?  " 

"  Yes — in  a  way." 

"  It's  outrageous !  " 

"  But  he  tries  to  be  very  nice  about  it,"  he  added, 
permitting  himself  this  little  stroke  of  diplomacy  to 
cover  his  wounded  pride,  for  her  sake.  At  the  same 
time  he  looked  at  her  questioningly,  wondering  if, 
after  all,  even  Mary  was  not  a  little  disappointed 
with  him  for  failing  of  promotion.  She  set  all 
doubts  at  rest  by  springing  into  his  arms. 

"  It's  no  matter  if  you're  a  sergeant.  It's  no  mat- 
ter if  you're  a  private  in  the  rear  ranks !  " 

"  I  know  that.  I  know  that,  Mary.  If  I  didn't 
know  it — I  would  lose  heart." 

A  flurry  at  the  door  interrupted  them.  They 
looked  around  to  see  the  Presidente  and  two  mem- 
bers of  the  Common  Council,  as  elected  under  Gen- 
eral Order  No.  43,  standing,  hats  in  hand,  in  a  state 
of  doubt  and  embarrassment.  The  great  news  had 
travelled  fast,  and  they  had  come  to  pay  their  re- 
spects to  the  wife  of  the  Captain.  The  Presidente 
placed  his  rickety  carriage,  the  only  one  in  town,  at 
Mrs.  Dobbins's  service  to  drive  in  every  evening. 
After  him,  more  deliberately,  the  next  day,  came 

159 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

the  leading  Chinese  merchants  with  presents  of  silk 
and.pina  cloth.  Both  offers  were  refused  by  the 
Captain  himself,  as  a  matter  of  official  discretion. 
But  Mrs.  Dobbins,  though  she  did  not  mean  to,  re- 
called that  Mrs.  Lane  spoke  of  driving  in  the  Presi- 
dente's  carriage  and  of  the  beautiful  presents  which 
she  had  received  from  the  local  officials.  In  fact, 
Mrs.  Lane  might  have  been  expected  to  speak  of 
such  things  to  the  wife  of  the  man  who  formerly  had 
ranked  her  husband.  In  the  old  days  on  the  plains 
Mrs.  Dobbins  had  more  than  once  put  young  Mrs. 
Lane  "  in  her  place." 

"  You  see,  Mary,"  explained  the  Captain,  "  I'm 
trying  to  teach  these  people  what  honest  govern- 
ment is." 

The  Chinese,  who  had  heard  of  the  English  meth- 
ods in  Hong-Kong,  concluded  that  this  must  be  the 
peculiar  characteristic  of  all  big  white  men  with 
blond  hair,  and  proceeded  to  adapt  themselves  to 
the  new  conditions  and  make  the  best  of  them — as 
they  always  do  abroad  and  never  at  home.  But  the 
little  Presidente  had  not  heard  of  the  English  meth- 
ods in  Hong-Kong.  He  knew  only  the  Spanish 
method,  which  was  his  method — his  civilization — 
and  that  of  those  beneath  him.  So  he  secretly 
thought  that  the  Captain  was  a  dunce,  who  would 

1 60 


A   BATTLE   AND   A   QUARREL 

be  recalled  in  disgrace  some  day  by  the  American 
don  who  was  at  the  head  of  affairs  in  Manila.  Even 
as  little  presidentes  go,  the  little  Presidente  of  Lin- 
gat  was  a  bad  man. 

It  was  her  first  experience  away  from  a  post  where 
there  was  not  some  society.  She  had  always 
thought  that  John  alone  would  be  sufficient  to  her 
happiness.  In  truth,  he  had  been  a  foil  to  the  rest 
of  the  world.  She  had  come  back  to  her  quiet, 
forceful  husband  as  to  a  retreat  from  the  talk  and 
gossip  of  the  post.  She  had  not  foreseen  that  a  re- 
treat becomes  a  hermitage  if  you  are  restricted  to  it. 
For  he  was  never  talkative.  When  he  was  at  home 
he  read  and  smoked,  being  supremely  happy  in  the 
consciousness  of  her  presence. 

As  the  days  wore  on  she  did  little  but  lie  on  a  long 
chair,  with  thoughts  passing  through  her  mind 
which  used  to  have  no  place  there.  She  grew  sick 
of  the  sight  of  brown  faces  and  bare  limbs;  of  naked 
infants  dying  of  small-pox  in  their  mothers'  arms; 
of  children,  with  shirts  reaching  only  to  their  navels, 
wriggling  up  the  bamboo  rungs  of  the  ladders  lead- 
ing to  nipa  huts.  Or,  to  be  diagnostic,  she  was 
suffering  from  the  little  liver  devils  of  the  tropics 
which  fatten  on  lassitude  and  starve  on  exercise. 

One  unusually  hot  morning  John  came  in  with 
161 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

a  map  of  Africa  in  perspiration  on  the  back  of  his 
blouse  and  his  hair  gray  with  dust  and  matted  to  his 
head.  He  had  his  mail,  which  he  had  just  received, 
in  his  hand.  He  dropped  into  a  chair,  called  to  the 
houseboy  to  make  sure  that  the  tank  supplying  the 
shower-bath  was  full,  and  began  to  read  the  orders 
from  head-quarters  as  if  they  were  the  gospel  as  well 
as  the  law.  His  wife  looked  at  him  and  then  at 
some  bits  of  paper,  the  remains  of  a  letter  which  she 
and  the  little  devils  had  torn  to  pieces  in  exaspera- 
tion as  soon  as  she  had  read  it.  Mrs.  Lane  had 
written  to  say : 

"  We  expected  you  to  see  us  before  this.  The 
Major  was  speaking  only  to-day  about  how  lone- 
some you  must  be.  He  says  that  you  can  come  on 
the  mail  wagon  any  time  you  wish,  and  he  will  see 
that  you  are  escorted  back.  Regimental  head- 
quarters is  here  now,  you  know,  and  we  have  the 
band  to  play  every  evening.  We  have  had  two 
balls,  and,  of  course,  being  the  only  white  woman 
here  with  twelve  officers,  I  danced  till  I  was  like  a 
rag." 

John  was  unusually  absorbed.  He  had  just  been 
told  again  that  the  Presidente,  while  so  fawningly 
loyal,  was  plotting  to  deliver  the  town  over  to  an 
insurgent  attack;  and  he  had  caught  a  Chinese 

162 


A   BATTLE  AND   A   QUARREL 

trader  cheating  the  people  with  false  weights.  More- 
over a  communication  in  his  hand  held  out  no  hope 
of  detaching  any  of  Major  Lane's  battalion  as  rein- 
forcements for  his  three  towns.  Perhaps  he  was 
abrupt  in  reply  to  his  wife's  questions.  At  all  events, 
the  time  had  come  for  the  outburst  which  she  had 
long  been  holding  back. 

"  The  presidentes  may  amuse  you,  but  they  don't 
amuse  me,"  she  said.  "  Think  what  my  life  is  here 
— Dreyfused — with  no  hope  of  anything  better  if 
I  depend  on  you!  Yes,  Dreyfused!  With  the 
chances  that  the  whole  parcel  of  volunteers  will  be 
taken  into  the  regulars  as  they  stand,  while  I  have 
to  courtesy  to  school-girls  who  rank  me  out  of  quar- 
ters !  Look  at  your  own  classmates  who  are  colonels 
and  lieutenant-colonels!  Look  at  your  own  lieu- 
tenant who  is  a  major !  You  haven't  even  written 
to  the  senators  from  your  State!  You  seem  to 
like  to  vegetate  in  this  ghastly  place,  while  I 
suffer!" 

Her  angrily  spoken  sentences  came  as  so  many 
blows  in  the  face  to  her  husband.  He  slowly  and 
mechanically  folded  up  his  letters,  rose  and  took 
three  or  four  steps  toward  the  bathroom,  before  he 
found  a  few  poor  words. 

"  I'm — I'm  sorry,  Mary,"  he  said. 
163 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

She  was  already  repentant  of  her  abrupt  com- 
plaint. At  tiffin  she  vainly  looked  for  him  to  say 
something  upon  which  she  could,  with  a  show  of 
self-respect,  hang  her  plea  for  forgiveness.  After 
an  awkward  moment  of  silence,  when  he  rose  from  a 
meal  of  a  few  mouthfuls,  he  said : 

"  Mary,  perhaps  a  trip  to  Japan  would  do  you 
good.  You  may  go,  if  you  wish — or  to  the  States, 
or  anywhere.  My  expenses  are  nothing  here.  You 
will  have  most  of  our  income." 

He  spoke  so  coldly,  so  definitely  that  she  was  in- 
stantly in  a  temper  of  independence. 

"  Yes,  I  will,"  she  said.  "  I'll  go  and  enjoy  my- 
self as  other  women  do.  This  life  of  devotion  is  all 
very  well,  but  it  brings  precious  little  reward  I 
notice." 

"  Very  good.  To-morrow,  or  next  day,  or  when- 
ever you  wish,  we  can  start  you  off  with  an  escort  to 
Nueva  Caceres." 

For  the  moment  the  woman  was  bolstered  up 
with  her  own  anger.  The  man?  He  passed  down 
the  stairs  in  a  daze.  For  he  knew  only  how  to  fight, 
not  how  to  quarrel. 

As  he  left  the  building  without  any  particular 
destination  in  view  he  was  conscious  only  of  a  wish 
that  he  might  be  spared  the  misery  of  seeing  her 

164 


A   BATTLE   AND   A  QUARREL 

again,  now  that  he  knew  that  repugnance  had  taken 
the  place  of  love  in  her  heart.  He  was  too  preoccu- 
pied to  notice  that  the  figure  coming  across  the 
square  was  running.  He  did  not  even  recognize  it 
as  the  familiar  one  of  Juan  Mendez,  a  Filipino  prop- 
erty-holder whose  blood  had  not  been  poisoned  by 
a  Spanish  strain,  until  two  agitated  brown  hands 
were  actually  under  his  nose. 

"  They  are  coming !  "  cried  Mendez.  "  I  have 
been  up  the  road  and  seen  them!  Four  or  five 
hundred,  with  rifles !  They  have  gathered  from  all 
the  bands  in  the  country  around.  The  Presidente 
is  guiding  them!  He  hates  you!  All  the  drones 
and  schemers  hate  you!  You  have  not  let  them 
make  us  pay  taxes.  They  know  that  you  have  few 
men.  Now  they  have  come  for  revenge — to  burn 
my  home — to  kill  me — to  kill  all  who  are  honest! 
Let  me  have  a  rifle !  Let  me  help  you !  " 

The  sound  of  a  shot  from  an  outpost  put  the  seal 
to  Mendez's  statement. 

"  No.  You  go  tell  the  people  to  take  cover,  Juan. 
And  tell  them  that  there  is  no  danger.  The  Ameri- 
canos will  protect  them." 

"  But  there  are  hundreds  and  you  are  only  a 
handful!" 

"  Then  we  shall  get  the  more  rifles." 
1165 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

"  Ah,  Captain,  you  are  not  Spanish — you  are  not 
Spanish !  "  said  Mendez,  laughing  hysterically  and 
becoming  quite  confident. 

While  the  bugle  was  sounding  to  "  fall  in  "  and 
the  men  were  rushing  from  the  shady  places  where 
they  were  resting  to  their  accoutrements,  the  Cap- 
tain went  up  the  bamboo  ladder  two  steps  at  a  time 
to  the  tower  of  the  church,  which  commanded  a  view 
of  the  surrounding  country. 

He  took  it  for  granted  that  Mendez's  numbers 
could  be  divided  by  two,  and  of  this  only  half  would 
be  armed.  His  vision  flew  over  the  foliage  in  which 
nestled  the  nipa  roofs  of  the  town,  past  the  open 
stretch  of  paddy-field  to  the  bamboo-grove  which 
bordered  it.  Just  beyond,  hugging  the  cover  of 
the  river-bank  and  apparently  intending  to  debouch 
from  the  grove  and  charge  across  fatal  open  ground 
with  Oriental  perversity,  was  a  column  of  white  fig- 
ures. Through  the  glasses  each  seemed  to  be  car- 
rying a  black  stick,  which  was,  of  course,  a  rifle. 
When  his  practised  eye  told  him  that  there  were  act- 
ually three  if  not  four  hundred,  he  only  smiled  a  little 
more  grimly  and  confidently.  During  his  rides  he 
had  mapped  the  country  in  his  mind.  His  plan  for 
dealing  with  such  an  emergency  as  this  had  been 
made  long  ago.  After  scanning  the  horizon  to 


A   BATTLE  AND   A  QUARREL 

make  sure  that  an  attack  was  not  to  be  directed  from 
two  sides  he  hastened  back  down  the  stairs. 

His  wife  was  standing  by  the  entrance.  He 
started,  and  paused  long  enough  to  say,  in  a  tone 
distinctly  military : 

"  Yes,  the  church  is  the  best  place  for  you.  Stray 
bullets  might  go  through  the  walls  of  the  house. 
There  is  no  danger.  The  affair  will  be  over  in  half 
an  hour." 

And  then  he  passed  on. 

Her  anger  going  as  quickly  as  it  had  come,  Mrs. 
Dobbins  had  hurried  from  the  table  to  the  window 
and  had  watched  her  husband  cross  the  square,  his 
erect  figure  bearing  no  sign  of  his  distress  of  mind. 
She  had  overheard  Juan's  excited  tale,  and  had  cor- 
roboration  of  the  overwhelming  force  of  the  enemy 
from  the  outpost  who  came  running  into  the  square 
after  the  Captain  had  entered  the  church.  As  an 
army  woman  she  knew  what  such  odds  meant;  as 
a  wife  she  knew  that  her  husband  would  attack  in 
flank,  no  matter  what  the  force  against  him,  and 
that  failure  meant  annihilation,  with  him  cheer- 
fully exposing  himself  to  the  last  moment.  Yet  the 
only  sign  that  she  longed  for  forgiveness  before  he 
went  into  action  was  the  imploring  gesture  of  arms 
outstretched  toward  his  retreating  back. 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

'As  the  Captain  stopped  in  front  of  his  waiting 
garrison,  two  pale,  almost  emaciated  creatures, 
wavering  under  the  load  of  their  rifles,  came  out  of 
the  barracks  and  took  their  places  in  the  line  of  forty 
men,  each  of  whose  faces  bore  that  individual  reali- 
zation of  what  was  before  him  and  that  stern  inten- 
tion to  go  through  with  it  which  are  so  characteristic 
of  the  American  soldier. 

"  Stoke  and  Leman,"  he  said  to  the  sick  ones, 
"  I  thought  you  were  in  hospital  with  dysentery." 

"  We  was,  sir,"  said  Stoke,  "  but  if  you're  willing, 
we  ain't  now." 

The  Captain  divided  the  force  into  two  parts,  one 
part  under  the  Sergeant,  with  Gelley,  the  Surgeon, 
attached,  and  the  other  under  his  own  command. 

"  I'm  going  to  take  my  men,"  he  said  to  the 
Sergeant,  "  and  pass  under  cover  of  a  path  to  the 
west  of  the  main  road  leading  north,  then  come  out 
on  the  road  so  as  to  be  at  right  angles  with  the  bam- 
boo and  with  your  position.  You  are  to  go  to  the 
northern  outskirts  of  the  town,  and  as  our  friends 
come  out  of  the  bamboo  you  are  to  hold  them  back 
and  not  let  them  get  near  enough  to  become  over- 
confident. If  they  come  too  near,  understand, 
they'll  get  a  grip  and  their  numbers  will  count. 
When  we  begin  firing  from  the  roadway,  throw  it 

168 


A   BATTLE   AND   A   QUARREL 

into  'em  till  your  rifles  blister  your  hands.  When 
we  charge,  you  charge.  Mind  your  sights  and 
don't  fire  high.  We'll  get  'em  all  right." 

Thereupon,  he  gave  the  word  and  the  two  col- 
umns started  off  at  the  double.  After  he  had  taken 
three  or  four  steps  with  his  column  he  stopped  sud- 
denly at  the  thought  of  the  danger  to  his  wife  from 
some  sniper  in  the  town  who  might  bring  his  rifle 
out  of  hiding  to  throw  bullets  about  among  the 
women  and  children.  He  detached  Stoke  and  Le- 
man  from  the  ranks. 

"  You  will  stand  guard  over  Mrs.  Dobbins,"  he 
said.  "  Search  anyone  for  arms  who  wants  to  enter 
the  church." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  they  replied,  in  broken  voices,  while 
he  hurried  on  to  catch  up  with  his  command. 

To  them  this  disappointment  meant  as  much  as 
for  a  playwright  to  have  his  play  rehearsed  up  to  the 
night  of  presentation  and  then  refused  a  hearing. 
Still  they  had  the  satisfaction  of  the  philosophy 
which  lies  behind  the  Sergeant's  saying,  that  "  or- 
ders 's  orders,  and  you  can  usually  rely  on  'em  to  be 
disagreeable." 

When  they  reported  themselves  with  a  statement 
of  their  duty  to  Mrs.  Dobbins,  she  bade  them,  with 
great  asperity,  to  go  to  the  front,  where  they  were 

169 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

needed.  They  stood  stock-still  and  merely  repeated 
the  Captain's  words. 

"  But  won't  you  do  this  for  me — for  a  woman — 
your  Captain's  wife?  "  she  pleaded.  "  Every  man, 
every  rifle,  ought  to  be  out  yonder." 

"  We'd  do  most  anything  for  the  Captain's  wife," 
Stoke  replied,  "  except  not  do  as  we're  told  by  the 
Captain  in  a  fight." 

"  Very  well,  then,"  she  said,  "  if  you  have  to  stay, 
I  don't." 

She  started  in  the  direction  which  her  husband 
had  taken. 

"  Don't,  Mrs.  Dobbins !  "  they  begged.  "  Bullets 
is  going  to  be  perty  thick  here  in  a  minute.  Think 
how  the  Captain  would  worry !  Don't !  " 

She  did  not  even  give  their  protests  the  deference 
of  arresting  her  steps. 

The  two  men  looked  at  each  other  for  a  minute, 
in  doubt.  Then  Stoke  had  a  flash  of  wisdom. 

"  We  was  left  to  guard  her,  not  to  guard  the 
church,"  he  said.  "  My  God !  If  anything  hap- 
pened to  her  I  wouldn't  face  the  Captain  for  Rocke- 
feller's fortune." 

Then,  following  correct  tactics,  one  went  to  the 
right  and  the  other  to  the  left  of  Mrs.  Dobbins,  as  if 
she  were  a  column  and  they  her  flankers.  So  they 

1170 


A   BATTLE   AND   A  QUARREL 

followed  her  by  the  road  and  by  the  path  her  hus- 
band had  taken,  until  all  instinctively  halted  as  they 
heard  the  crash  of  a  Krag  volley. 

"  It's  the  Sergeant's  line,  not  his,"  Mrs.  Dobbins 
thought,  pressing  on. 

Immediately  the  answering  bullets  of  the  insur- 
gents began  thripping  through  the  banana-trees. 
At  first  they  were  few;  then  a  storm.  When  Stoke 
saw  two  spits  of  dust  in  the  road  in  front  of  her,  he 
rushed  to  her  side,  crying,  in  a  tone  of  command: 

"  Mrs.  Dobbins,  you  must  take  cover!  If  you 
don't  we'll  have  to  carry  you  by  force." 

"  I'll  go  if  you'll  go  to  the  front,"  she  replied. 

"  One  of  us  will,"  he  declared  as  he  promptly  hur- 
ried her  behind  the  protecting  trunk  of  a  big  mango- 
tree.  "  Leman,"  he  added,  as  he  drew  his  hand  out 
of  his  pocket,  "  odd  or  even?  The  fellow  who  goes 
has  to  tell  the  Captain  that  he  did  it  on  his  own." 

Leman  won.  With  an  exclamation  of  joy  he 
started  on  the  run,  blowing  the  dust  out  of  his  sights 
as  he  went.  He  was  ten  yards  away  when  he  fell 
in  a  heap.  Stoke  ran  to  him  and  found  him  already 
unconscious,  with  a  hole  over  the  heart.  Another 
waif  of  the  world,  taken  by  the  regular  recruiting 
office  from  a  life  of  uselessness  and  turned  into  a  man 
and  an  expert — who  had  learned  how  to  smile  when 

171 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

he  heard  the  cry  of  loafers  in  garrison  towns,  "  Will 
you  work,  soldier?  "  and  had  still  smiled  when  the 
volunteers  told  him  how  they  carried  San  Juan  Hill 
— had  fallen  doing  his  duty  in  the  simple  way  of  the 
Service.  Stoke  picked  up  his  dead  comrade's  rifle 
and  laying  it  on  the  big  root  of  the  mango-tree  be- 
side him,  looked  out  into  the  thicket  with  flashing 
eyes,  as  confident  of  the  power  of  the  instrument  in 
his  hands  as  any  white  man  ever  was  in  a  brown 
man's  country. 

There  is  no  suspense  like  the  suspense  of  being 
under  fire  out  of  sight  of  the  combatants.  After 
the  first  Krag  volley,  all  the  firing  had  come 
from  the  insurgent  side.  Mrs.  Dobbins,  as  she 
listened  to  the  passing  of  the  bullets,  imagined  the 
worst. 

For  an  explanation,  we  must  turn  to  the  Sergeant, 
who,  at  this  juncture,  was  as  airy  as  the  belle  of  a 
ball.  His  men  were  barely  on  their  bellies  scanning 
the  line  of  earth  over  their  sights,  when  the  white 
figures  broke  out  of  the  bamboo.  He  waited  for 
them  to  come  within  seven  hundred  yards.  Then, 
in  answer  to  his  volley,  they  passed  out  of  sight  as 
suddenly  as  if  the  earth  had  opened  and  swallowed 
them. 

"  Oh,  ho,  my  Gugu  callers,  so  you've  laid  down, 
172 


A   BATTLE   AND   A   QUARREL 

behind  a  paddy  dyke  to  take  account  of  stock,  have 
you?"  he  called.  "Get  down,  clear  down,  boys, 
and  don't  shoot  till  the  target's  up  again." 

After  firing  for  five  minutes  without  hitting  any- 
one except  poor  Leman,  the  insurrectos  rose  and 
began  to  advance  by  rushes.  Our  men  now  had  to 
rise  on  their  elbows  and  return  the  fire.  Butts  was 
the  first  man  wounded.  He  got  "  it  "  in  the  shoul- 
der at  the  same  moment  as  a  complaint  from  the 
Sergeant  for  exposing  himself  unnecessarily.  Then 
Stanley's  head  dropped  down  on  his  rifle-stock  with 
a  bullet  hole  between  the  eyes.  No  one  noticed 
these  incidents  besides  the  Sergeant  and  the  Sur- 
geon. 

Many  insurgents  were  falling,  many  were  waver- 
ing, and  others  kept  on  less  surely,  but,  nevertheless, 
gaining  ground.  When  they  were  within  three 
hundred  yards  their  bugle  bade  them  halt.  Our 
men,  whose  rifle-barrels  hissed  if  touched  by  a  per- 
spiring hand,  knew  that  the  supreme  moment  was 
yet  to  come. 

As  the  insurgents  crawled  forward  to  reform  their 
line,  their  officers  recalled  to  them  all  the  encour- 
agements of  the  weeks  in  which  this  "  grand  attack  " 
by  the  mobilization  of  small  guerilla  bands  and  in- 
dividuals with  hidden  rifles  had  been  preparing. 

173 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

They  told  them  again  of  the  weakness  of  the  garri- 
son and  fanned  their  wrath  against  the  American 
Captain  who  had  been  making  the  people  trust  him. 
They  shouted  the  prospect  of  the  American  supplies 
and  money  in  the  town;  of  the  award  of  the  Cap- 
tain's watch  to  the  man  who  killed  or  captured  him; 
of  the  loot  of  Mendez's  house  and  the  killing  of 
the  traitorous  citizens  who  had  failed  to  pay  their 
taxes  to  the  Republic.  The  absence  of  fire  from 
our  side  encouraged  them  to  think  that  we  had  fled. 
So  they  rose  again  with  the  confidence  of  the  first 
charge,  and  all  the  bullets  which  the  Sergeant's  little 
corps  could  throw  seemed  to  have  no  effect  upon 
them. 

"  Pot  those  in  front !  "  the  Sergeant  called.  "  Then 
the  others  will  see  'em  fall.  Leave  that  officer  who's 
waving  his  sword  to  me !  " 

He  aimed  at  the  officer  and  missed.  He  fired 
again  with  greater  care  and  the  officer  dropped. 
Still  other  officers  sprang  forward,  and  there  was 
now  no  cessation  in  the  movement,  which  seemed 
to  have  the  grip  of  a  charge  which  feels  that  it  is  go- 
ing home  and  becomes  reckless  of  the  cost. 

"  Is  that  all  you  can  do?  "  asked  the  Sergeant, 
awakening  from  the  absorption  of  his  own  sharp- 
shooting  to  notice  that  the  fire  from  his  men  was 

174 


A   BATTLE   AND   A   QUARREL 

slackening.  There  was  no  reply.  Not  even  the 
man  next  to  him  had  heard  him  speak. 

"  Burleigh !  "  he  shrieked,  turning  his  attention 
entirely  from  the  field  to  his  men,  "  Burleigh,  what 
are  you  doing  behind  that  root?  Funking  it?  " 

Then  he  saw  that  Burleigh  was  dead;  and  he  saw 
that  he  had  only  eight  men  firing — eight  men  whose 
faces  were  set  with  the  purpose  of  making  the  most 
of  the  inevitable. 

"  If  any  man  opens  the  clip  to  his  magazine  'fore 
there's  a  Gugu  within  ten  foot  of  him,  I'll  pommel 
him  till  he's  black  and  blue.  Pump  it  into  'em! 

Pump "  the  Sergeant's  yell  was  drowned  by  the 

triumphing  cry  of  the  Filipinos  of  "  Gangway 
Americanos !  "  as  they  started  forward  at  a  dead  run. 

As  if  in  answer  to  the  insurrectos'  taunt,  the 
broken  volley  of  men  falling  into  position  in  haste 
spoke  from  the  side  of  the  road.  The  insurrectos 
stopped  with  the  shock  of  the  flank  fire  like  a  beast 
wounded  in  the  side  as  it  is  about  to  reach  its  prey. 
"  Plain  John  Dobbins  "  never  looked  finer  than 
now,  his  face  lighted  with  the  enthusiasm  and  trie 
preoccupation  of  the  business  at  hand,  which  was 
to  maintain  the  accuracy  of  the  fire  of  twenty  excited 
men;  for  that,  and  not  shouting  or  the  beating  of 
drums,  is  the  art  of  company  command,  and,  there- 

175 


THE   WAYS   OF  THE   SERVICE 

fore,  the  way  of  the  Service.  With  the  instinct  of 
the  animal,  the  insurgents  turned  in  the  direction 
from  which  the  wound  had  been  inflicted  and  des- 
perately replied  to  the  fire. 

It  was  then  that  the  Captain,  who  was  standing 
erect  despite  his  preachings  about  the  necessity  of  a 
line  officer  taking  cover,  whirled  half  round  with  the 
impact  of  a  blow  that  stung  his  left  forearm.  He 
looked  down  to  see  blood,  and  immediately  forgot 
the  wound  in  watching  for  the  moment  when  the 
enemy's  fire  should  be  so  far  reduced  as  to  warrant 
a  charge  with  the  minimum  of  exposure.  So 
short  was  the  range  that  he  drew  his  revolver  and 
emptied  its  chambers  with  the  zest  of  personal 
encounter. 

It  is  not  in  the  blood  and  marrow  under  brown 
skins  to  grapple  with  a  flank  fire.  The  insurgents' 
impulse  of  desperation  did  not  last  long.  They 
imagined  that  there  were  a  thousand  Americans, 
instead  of  a  handful  which  they  could  easily  sweep 
away  with  the  bayonet.  When  they  saw  the  big 
forms  in  blue  shirts  and  khaki  spring  out  of  the  rut 
by  the  roadway,  everyone  sought  to  save  his  own 
life — if  his  legs  were  too  weak  with  fear  to  carry 
him,  by  lying  prone  on  the  ground  and  crying  for 
mercy;  if  not,  by  running  for  the  bamboo. 

176 


A   BATTLE   AND  A  QUARREL 

Without  his  charge  the  Captain  would  not  have 
considered  that  he  had  administered  a  "  licking." 
He  stopped  in  the  middle  of  the  field  with  his  bugler 
at  his  elbow,  while  his  men  went  in  chase.  As  he 
looked  around  at  the  dead  and  the  dying  and  the 
prisoners,  he  heard  a  familiar  voice  crying,  "  Medi- 
co! "  (surgeon).  Its  source  was  the  parched  lips  of 
the  Presidente — a  bullet  through  his  shoulder  and  a 
Mauser  rifle  on  the  ground  by  his  side. 

"  Mercy !  mercy !  "  he  begged.  "  The  wicked 
ones  kidnapped  me  and  forced  me  to  fight." 

"  Yes,"  the  Captain  replied,  "  you've  made  a 
great  fool  of  yourself.  However,  you  mustn't  think 
that  I  believe  your  lie." 

And  the  little  Presidente  nestled  closer  to  the 
earth  for  fear  of  accidents  as  the  Sergeant  and  his 
eight  remaining  men,  who  had  charged  with  the 
moral  force  of  a  division,  came  hurrying  forward  to 
catch  the  rest  of  the  line.  The  Captain  stopped 
them. 

"  What  are  your  casualties?  "  he  asked. 

"  Well,  Stanley,  Burleigh,  and  Smith  are  dead  and 
Swanson's  perty  bad.  The  others'll  recover,  I  guess 
— great  guns,  sir!  Don't  you  know  that  you've 
been  hit  in  the  arm?  " 

"  I  should  say  he  had ! "  said  Surgeon  Gelley, 
177 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

coming  up  and  instantly  ripping  open  the  Captain's 
sleeve  with  his  knife. 

"  Not  much,"  said  the  Captain.  "  Went  clean 
through." 

"  I  suppose  if  two  went  clean  through  you 
wouldn't  have  it  bandaged,"  said  Gelley,  applying  a 
"  first  aid."  "  Blood  trickling  off  your  fingers — not 
much !  Nipped  an  artery — not  much !  Here,  put 
this  sling  over  your  head;  that'll  do  for  the  present. 
If  you  don't  go  back  to  the  house  I'll  order  you. 
Now  you're  sick,  I'm  your  boss." 

"  I  don't  want  the  men  to  get  too  far  afield,"  the 
Captain  told  the  Sergeant.  "  Call  them  in.  Make 
the  Presidente's  house  a  hospital  and  have  the  pris- 
oners carry  in  their  wounded." 

And  the  little  Presidente  was  already  proud- 
ly thinking  that  our  victory  did  not  count,  be- 
cause we  were  such  fools  as  not  to  take  advantage 
of  it. 

As  he  walked  unsteadily  toward  the  road,  so  as  to 
have  the  shade  of  the  trees  back  to  the  plaza,  the 
Captain  began  to  feel  the  effects  of  reaction.  He 
involuntarily  put  his  free  arm  to  his  head  as  if  to 
steady  it.  At  the  roadside  he  met  his  wife,  whom 
Stoke  could  hold  back  no  longer  after  the  fire  had 
diminished.  The  sight  of  her  brought  up  the 

178 


A   BATTLE   AND   A  QUARREL 

events  of  the  morning  and  all  its  contingent  misery, 
which  had  been  momentarily  forgotten. 

"  John,"  she  asked,  "  is  it  bad?  " 

"  We've  licked  them  good  and  hard,"  was  the  re- 
ply, "  but  we  had  to  pay  a  price.  Four  killed " 

"  Not  them !     Your  arm,  I  mean." 

"  That's  nothing." 

"  But  there's  a  great  red  spot  on  the  bandage." 

"  Always  is,  Mary.  It  doesn't  stop  bleeding  the 
minute  that  you  slap  a  '  first  aid  '  onto  it." 

Meanwhile  he  had  continued  to  walk.  Now  he 
stopped  suddenly  and,  staggering  almost  to  the 
point  of  falling,  asked,  in  a  military  manner: 

"  What  are  you  doing  here?  I  thought  I  left  you 
at  the  church." 

What  she  wanted  to  reply  was,  "  Because  I  loved 
you  and  couldn't  wait  for  you  to  forgive  me."  But 
he  seemed  at  once  too  weak  and  too  formidable  in 
his  dusty  khaki  and  flapping,  bloody  sleeve  to  recur 
to  the  subject. 

"  I  wanted  to — to  see,"  she  stammered. 

"  To  see !  "  he  repeated.  "  And  if  we  had  been 
driven  back?  " 

She  made  no  reply. 

They  went  on  in  silence,  save  for  the  plunking 
of  their  feet  in  the  thick,  hot  dust — until,  without 

179 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

any  warning,  there  was  a  sharp  report  from  the 
roadside,  followed  by  the  peculiar  thud  of  a  bullet 
striking  flesh. 

The  Captain  whirled  and  fell,  with  the  blood 
gushing  from  his  leg,  but  facing  his  antagonist.  The 
instinct  of  his  profession  gave  him  strength  for  the 
time  being.  His  vision  was  quite  clear  again.  Only 
a  few  yards  away  he  saw  peering  over  the  root  of  a 
mango-tree  a  black,  pock-marked  face.  The  as- 
sassin had  partly  risen  on  his  elbow  while  his  rifle 
rested  on  the  root,  as  if  entranced  by  the  effect  of  his 
deed.  Then  he  seemed  to  comprehend  that  it  was 
life  for  life  and  took  aim  again  as  the  Captain 
reached  for  his  revolver  only  to  remember  that  the 
chambers  were  empty.  There  followed  a  report, 
the  sound  of  a  bullet  going  high  over  the  Captain's 
head  in  the  bamboo  and  of  a  blow  with  the  stock  of  a 
rifle  which  crushed  in  the  Filipino's  skull. 

"  There,  you  swine !  "  Stoke  said.  "  You  ain't 
worth  a  cartridge." 

Then  he  went  to  the  assistance  of  Mrs.  Dobbins, 
who  had  her  thumb  pressed  with  all  the  strength  of 
her  arm  just  above  the  wound.  With  his  bayonet 
Stoke  made  a  tourniquet  and  applied  his  own  first- 
aid  bandage.  He  was  about  to  start  back  to  the 
field  for  a  stretcher  when  he  espied  a  full-grown 

180 


A  BATTLE  AND   A  QUARREL 

manikin  peeking  out  of  a  nipa  hut.  So  he  and  the 
native  bore  the  prostrate  man  to  the  house  on  a 
piece  of  nipa  thatch. 

It  seemed  to  the  Captain  that  his  bearers  were 
travelling  up  and  down  the  swells  of  a  rolling  sea 
of  dust,  as  through  a  hot  fog  which  stifled  him  he 
saw  his  wife  hurrying  ahead  to  prepare  the  way. 
His  racing  thoughts  again  dwelt  entirely  upon  what 
had  passed  between  them  in  the  morning. 

"  How  old  she  looks !  Grown  old  suffering  un- 
der a  yoke.  She's  trying  to  do  her  duty,"  he  told 
himself.  "  That's  what  she  has  been  doing  for 
years,  in  contrition,  with  all  the  love  out  of  her 
heart.  And  I  have  never  known  it  until  to-day! 
Never  knew  it  until  when  she  let  the  mask  fall  I 
saw  that  she  loathed  the  sight  of  me.  How  easy  it 
would  be — an  artery,  Gelley  said — and  save  further 
trouble.  I  would  leave  her  sufficient  income, 
and " 

The  next  that  he  knew  he  was  drinking  iced  water 
out  of  a  glass  held  by  Gelley,  while  his  wife  was  at 
the  Surgeon's  elbow. 

"  Hemorrhage  stopped,  all  right,  old  chap,"  Gel- 
ley  said,  cheerfully.  "  You'd  have  been  done  for  in 
two  minutes  if  Stoke  hadn't  put  the  tourniquet  on. 
I'm  not  going  to  have  you  undressed  or  excited  in 

181 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

any  way  till  all  danger  is  past.  I'll  peep  in  at  the 
door  again  in  ten  minutes  and  want  to  find  you 
sound  asleep.  Meanwhile,  I'm  going  back  to  poor 
Swanson  and  try  to  save  him." 

Contrary  to  expectations,  the  iced  water  revived 
the  Captain  and  carried  him  back  to  the  train  of 
irrational  thought  which  he  was  following  when 
he  had  become  unconscious.  As  the  resultant  de- 
termination gained  force  in  his  mind  he  said,  ab- 
ruptly : 

"  Mary,  I  can  sleep  easier  if  you  will  go  outside 
and  lie  down  and  rest." 

j  "  Then  I  will,"  she  said,  cheerfully,  not  daring  to 
excite  him  by  any  protest,  much  less  relieve  herself 
of  the  burden  of  self-blame  which  lay  heavier  and 
heavier  upon  her  heart. 

The  subterfuge  served  his  purpose.  His  strength 
grew  with  his  idea. 

"  She  will  have  income  enough  and  we  shall  both 
have — peace.  No  one — will  suspect — suicide,"  he 
whispered.  "  They — will — say — I  was  delirious,  as 
Smith  was  when  he  tore  his  bandages  off  in  Cuba. 
In  two  minutes,  Gelley  said " 

With  an  effort  he  reached  the  knot  of  the  band- 
age around  his  leg,  but  he  could  not  untie  it.  He 
fumbled  in  his  pocket,  took  out  his  knife,  leaned 

1182 


A   BATTLE   AND  A  QUARREL 

against  the  pillow  while  he  laboriously  opened  it. 
He  slipped  the  blade  under  the  outside  strand  of 
the  bandage.  Then  he  suddenly  recalled,  smiling 
in  the  cynicism  of  his  conception,  that  he  had  not 
yet  written  the  report  of  his  action. 

"  I'll  make  it  a  true  report,"  he  said,  in  a  mock- 
ing whisper. 

He  took  a  piece  of  paper  and  a  pencil  from  the, 
table  at  the  head  of  his  bed  and  wrote,  in  trembling 
characters : 

"  For  four  months  I  have  been  holding  three 
towns  with  one  hundred  men,  while  I  have  been 
denied  reinforcements  from  the  full  battalion  at 
Bigao.  I  do  not  consider  my  losses  against  four 
hundred  unreasonably  heavy,  considering  that  the 
enemy  was  organized  in,  and  marched  unnoticed 
from,  the  battalion's  sphere  of  influence." 

"  And  now,"  he  thought.  Once  he  bent  over, 
only  to  fall  back  in  exhaustion.  The  second  at- 
tempt was  more  successful.  He  laid  his  hand  upon 
the  knife. 

Again  he  was  arrested  in  the  execution  of  his 
purpose;  this  time  by  a  sob  from  the  adjoining 
room.  His  wife,  who  had  been  suppressing  her 
emotion,  had  now  involuntarily  put  her  agony  into 
words.  He  listened. 

183 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

"  Oh,  if  he  only  could  understand !  "  she  was  say- 
ing. "  If  he  only  knew  how  I  love  him  and  hate 
myself  for  what  I  said !  " 

His  delirium  had  passed.  He  fell  back  upon  his 
pillow  with  the  smile  of  one  who  has  found  life 
worth  living  again. 

"Mary!  "he  called. 

She  came  on  tiptoe. 

"  Mary,"  he  said,  "  I  think  that  I  could  sleep  b'et- 
ter  if  you  were  in  the  room  with  me." 


The  wife  picked  up  that  novel  report,  and,  before 
her  husband  thought  of  it  again,  had  sent  it  to  the 
Patient  and  Well-Abused  One  in  Manila. 

"  As  if  I  had  anything  to  do  with  promotions," 
he  remarked,  grimly. 

He  smiled  to  himself — for  his  American  sense  of 
humor  never  deserted  him — and  enclosing  the  let- 
ter, wrote  on  his  familiar  pad : 

"  This  is  not  military  and  was  written  by  Captain 
Dobbins  in  a  delirium.  However,  it  states  the 
truth.  Confidential." 

The  Adjutant-General,  who  opened  this  letter 
after  one  from  a  Congressman's  wife  pleading  that 
her  son  be  sent  home,  remarked : 

184 


A   BATTLE   AND  A  QUARREL 

"  Why  will  such  men  always  hide  themselves 
when  they  ought  to  know  that  we  are  looking  for 
them?  Can't  they  read  in  the  newspapers  that  it 
pays  to  advertise?  " 

Whereupon,  he  wrote  a  two-months'  extension  of 
leave  for  an  officer  who,  under  the  devoted  ministra- 
tions of  his  wife,  was  happily  convalescing  in  the 
mountains  of  Japan. 


185 


AGAINST    HIS    OWN    PEOPLE 


AGAINST    HIS    OWN    PEOPLE 

ON  the  morning  after  the  fight  at  Dangwan 
River,  a  man,  whose  stature  and  physiog- 
nomy were  distinctly  not  those  of  a  Filipino,  avoid- 
ing the  open  places  and  going  under  cover  of  thick- 
ets and  gullies,  came  to  the  deep  fringe  of  foliage 
which  shades  the  main  highway  connecting  Bacoor 
and  Imus,  in  the  Province  of  Cavite.  He  carried  a 
Mauser  rifle  and  a  cloth  bandolier  of  native  make 
full  of  cartridges.  His  dress — that  of  a  Filipino 
regular  soldier,  even  to  the  miserable  rope  shoes — 
could  not  belie,  on  closer  examination,  his  national- 
ity, which  was  American. 

He  looked  up  and  down  the  road  and  listened; 
finally,  he  looked  behind  him  and  listened,  before 
he  started  to  cross.  He  was  barely  on  the  other 
side  when  the  sound  of  hoofs  in  the  distance  made 
him  leap  behind  a  mango-tree  and  cower  in  the 
crotch  of  two  of  its  great  projecting  roots  while  he 
waited  fearfully  for  the  coming  of  a  patrol  of  his 
own  countrymen.  Not  until  they  were  past  did  he, 
with  a  great  sigh  of  relief,  so  far  expose  himself  as 

189 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

to  have  a  peep  at  the  cantering  group.  A  glance 
was  sufficient  to  make  him  fall  back  with  a  groan 
and  bury  his  face  in  his  hands.  He  had  recognized 
the  leading  figure  as  his  own  Colonel. 

"  God  A'mighty !  "  he  exclaimed.  "  It  was  hard 
enough  without  that !  " 

He  remained  for  some  time  in  this  attitude,  an 
easy  prey  for  pursuers  if  pursuers  he  had,  again 
fighting  a  battle  in  his  heart  to  preserve  a  resolution. 
When  he  arose  he  had  more  than  ever  the  air  of  one 
fleeing  from  peril  behind  to  a  precipice  beyond. 

He  made  his  way  rapidly,  treading  as  softly  upon 
his  rope  soles  as  if  they  were  moccasins.  By  five 
in  the  afternoon  he  was  in  the  ruburbs  of  Manila, 
where  he  threw  his  rifle  and  cartridges  into  a  ditch. 
Once  in  town,  he  pulled  his  straw  hat  well  down 
over  his  eyes.  His  garb  and  his  black,  straggling 
beard  made  it  easy  for  him  to  pass  as  one  of  the 
many  Spanish  soldiers  enjoying  liberty  after  their 
release  from  the  hands  of  the  Filipinos  by  the  ad- 
vance of  our  forces. 

The  Spanish  soldiers  themselves  might  have 
thought  that  he  was  an  orderly  going  on  a  life-and- 
death  message.  His  speed  increased  with  his  fear 
that  he  might  be  detected  before  he  could  speak 
with  the  one  for  whose  ears  he  had  been  framing  a 

190 


AGAINST   HIS   OWN   PEOPLE 

narrative  during  the  last  thirty-six  sleepless  hours. 
He  passed  the  length  of  Calle  Real,  then  over  to 
Calle  Nozaleda,  which  he  crossed  to  the  opposite 
side  of  the  street  from  Mrs.  Gerlison's.  As  he  went 
by,  the  only  outward  evidence  that  he  had  any  in- 
terest in  her  residence  was  a  sharp  glance.  Assured 
that  there  was  no  one  on  her  porch,  he  turned  at  the 
next  crossing  and  soon  was  at  her  door,  expectant, 
with  head  bared.  She  came  herself  in  response  to 
the  knock  at  the  great  sliding  windows  which  were 
literally  one  side  of  the  lower  story  of  the  house. 

"  Can  I  talk  to  you — a — a  little?  "  he  asked,  in  a 
trembling  voice. 

"  To  me?  What  about?  "  she  queried,  shudder- 
ing a  little  .at  the  sight  of  this  unkempt  man,  with 
his  deepset  eyes  and  the  prominence  of  his  high 
cheek-bones  enhanced  by  the  hollows  beneath  them. 

"  I  guess  you  don't  'member  me,  I've  changed 
so,"  he  said.  "  Or — is  it  that  you  don't  want  to?  " 

"  Of  course  I  do.     It's  Sergeant  Kanley !  " 

"  Yes,  and  I've  come  to  you  first.  You're  the 
only  lady  in  the  regiment  I'd  dare  to  come  to  or  I'd 
want  to  come  to — if  you'll  give  me  just  a  few  min- 
utes." 

For  many  years  she  had  known  Kanley  as  an 
efficient  and  trim  non-commissioned  officer.  His 

191 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

face  told  her  at  a  glance  that  there  was  far  more 
behind  his  case  than  the  circumstances  related  at 
the  time  of  his  disappearance  attested. 

"  Certainly.  I  always  have  time  to  listen  or  to 
do  anything  that  I  can  to  help  anyone  in  the  regi- 
ment." 

She  showed  him  into  her  sitting-room,  to  a  seat 
in  a  comfortable  chair  facing  the  window,  through 
which  the  light  of  day  was  still  streaming.. 

"  I  ain't  deceivin'  myself,"  he  said.  "  I  ain't 
askin'  pardon.  I  know  by  the  law  o'  the  land,  the 
law  o'  God,  the  law  o'  nature,  I  deserve  no  mercy." 

At  this  statement  she  was  a  little  surprised.  But 
she  was  too  experienced  a  listener  to  make  any  re- 
mark. 

"  I  had  a  squaw  for  a  gran'mother  on  one  side 
and  a  Mexican  for  a  gran'dad  on  t'other.  It's  the 
little  Injin  and  the  little  Greaser  that's  the  devil  in 
my  blood.  The  rest's  all  right.  It's  that  that's 
kep'  me  straight,  that  that's  kep'  me  out  o'  trouble 
when  the  Injin  and  Greaser  got  me  drunk  in  Ari- 
zona— you  'member?  " 

She  nodded. 

"  And  I  lost  my  chevrons  and  got  six  months' 
pay,  and  thanked  God  that  the  ballast  o'  the  white 
man's  blood  kep'  me  from  doin'  murder,  just  as  it 

192 


AGAINST   HIS   OWN   PEOPLE 

kep'  me  from  joinin'  the  Apaches  and  goin'  to  hefl 
gen'rally.  Ever  since  that,  when  I  seen  a  Greaser 
or  an  Injin,  it  seems  to  me  as  if  I  seen  my  own 
shadow  that  I  was  tryin'  to  get  away  from  and 
couldn't.  But  mebbe  I'm  wastin'  your  time.  Mebbe 
you  think  I'm  a  long  time  comin'  to  the  point.  I'm 
sayin'  it  my  way,  the  way  I've  reasoned  it  out." 

"  That  is  how  I  want  you  to  say  it,  so  don't  try 
to  hurry,"  replied  Mrs.  Gerlison. 

"  Oh,  you  don't  know  the  hell  thoughts  I  used 
to  have  at  Reno,"  he  continued,  "  while  my  face 
was  a  mummy  with  duty  and  teachin'  rookies  regu- 
lar to  put  their  heels  together.  But  there  was  the 
Greaser  'n  Injin,  the  shadow  hangin'  'round  re- 
mindin'  me  what  'twas  to  be  sloppy,  dirty,  God- 
forsaken. I  was  on  t'other  side  teachin'  others  to 
keep  the  step  o'  t'other  side.  It's  easier  to  stick  to 
the  road  when  there's  a  wagon  behind  than  if  you're 
out  o'  harness.  Well,  it — it's  dif'rent  out  here,  ain't 
it,  don't  you  think?  "  he  asked,  pleadingly,  as  he 
worked  the  brim  of  his  hat  nervously  between  a 
thumb  and  forefinger. 

"  Very,"  she  replied.     "  Go  on." 

"  The  harness  seems  to  hang  loose  and  there  don't 
seem  to  be  much  of  any  roads.  Barricks?  Humph! 
Nipa  huts  that's  the  same's  all  other  nipa  huts. 

393 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

There's  the  monot'ny  and  the  homesickness — allus 
the  homesickness — eggin'  one  'nother  on.  There's 
the  heat  drivin'  you  to  one  place  to  get  cool  and 
then  drivin'  you  to  another.  There  ain't  the  shadow 
a-followin',  and  when  you  get  off  the  road  nothin' 
to  remind  you  it's  the  Greaser  'n  Injin  that  made 
you  stray." 

He  paused. 

"  I  couldn't  say  then,  I  can't  say  now,  whether  her 
face's  perty.  That  ain't  the  point  with  her  kind  any 
more'n  a  perty  ankle  is.  It's  somethin'  down  deep 
— the  taint  which  a  white  man  left.  The  first  time 
she  looked  into  my  eyes  she  began  playin'  with  the 
Injin  n'  Greaser.  She  was  goin'  into  Cavite  from 
Paranaque  and  she  had  no  pass. 

"  '  I  spik  In-glish,  Mister  Sergeant,'  she  says, 
laughin'.  '  My  father  he  In-glish  sailorman.  My 
mother  she  don'  know.  She  meet  my  father. 
Bimeby  she  know  a  great  much.  She  live  Cavite. 
Please  me  go — one  girl.  You  no  care — see  my 
mother.' 

"The  Injin  n'  Greaser  says  to  let  her  go,  and  I 
let  her  go  when  I  had  no  business  to.  Yes,  her  dad 
was  English,  the  kind  that's  kicked  out  of  the  white 
man's  world,  and  then  kicked  from  port  to  port  in 
the  Orient.  And  she  knew  it.  God  A'mighty! 

194 


AGAINST   HIS   OWN   PEOPLE 

how  she  knew  it !  It  didn't  take  her  long  to  find 
out  that  she'd  got  in  her  what  the  Gugu  ain't  got. 
It's  the  same  thing  that's  in  the  bowels  of  a  steamer 
or  in  a  bandolier  o'  cartridges  which  look  innocent 
'nough — force.  With  it  she  had  the  Gugu's  cunnin', 
and  that  makes  a  kind  of  devil  that  can  do  things. 

"  She  kep'  comin'  'round  and  talkin'  and  talkin'. 
One  day  she'd  say,  '  Me  good  Americano,'  and  the 
next,  laughin'  just  as  hard,  '  Me  good  insurrecto. 
Viva  Aguinaldo ! '  All  the  time  she  was  gettin'  in- 
formation for  the  insurgents.  All  the  time  she  was 
readin'  all  I  thought.  One  day  I  was  tellin'  her 
what  fools  the  Filipinos  was.  I'd  often  reckoned  it 
out,  after  we'd  druv  twice  our  number  out  o' 
trenches  by  front  attack,  how  easy  'twould  be,  if 
the  Gugus  had  a  man  with  sand  in  his  craw,  to 
drive  us  back.  All  they  had  to  do  was  to  lay  to  it 
and  keep  on  firm'.  But  they  always  ran  soon  as  we 
charged,  'stead  o'  takin'  that  as  a  signal  that  we  was 
all  plain  targets  in  the  open  and  to  pump  it  into  us. 
I  ain't  the  only  one  that's  said  that.  I  guess  it's 
been  talked  in  every  officers'  mess  and  every  can- 
teen in  the  islands.  I  talked  it  like  the  rest,  not 
thinkin'  of  it  as  anything  but  talk  till  the  Injin  n' 
Greaser  and  the  woman  began  their  partnership." 

He  shifted  uneasily  in  the  chair,  as  if  he  had  come 
195 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

to  a  point  in  his  story  where  he  was  at  a  loss  for 
words. 

"  Then  Busher,  the  Second  Lieutenant,  just  out  o' 
civil  life  and  no  good,  swore  at  me  a  good  deal  for 
his  own  mistakes.  That's  another  thing  that  ain't 
the  way  it  was  at  the  posts,  where  the  Colonel  wasn't 
too  busy  to  keep  an  eye  out.  It's  the  thing,  some 
think,  to  swear  at  sergeants  out  here.  This  particu- 
lar time  he  ripped  me  up  like  I  was  a  lazy  nigger  in 
a  cotton  patch.  The  Injin  n'  Greaser,  who  know 
what  growlin'  and  riot  is,  but  don't  know  what  dis- 
cipline and  order  is,  rose  up  and  made  me  feel's  if  I 
couldn't  stand  it  any  longer. 

"  Ten  minutes  after  that  the  woman  came  slippin' 
up.  She'd  overheard  the  Lieutenant  cussin'  me  out. 
She  just  leaned  over  me  and  talked.  I  can  feel  her 
breath  on  my  cheek  yet.  She  told  me  she  knew  I 
was  like  herself.  She  could  see  it  in  my  face.  I 
wasn't  all  white,  and  people  that  wasn't  all  white 
was  outcasts.  They  wasn't  meant  to  serve  white 
ner  black,  but  to  pay  the  world  the  revenge 
they  owed  it  for  makin'  'em  mongrels.  I  must 
come  with  her.  I'd  be  a  general — we'd  rule  to- 
gether. 

"  I  can't  explain.  I  dunno  how  it  happened.  I 
went.  That's  the  whole  thing.  I  went  sneakin' 

196 


AGAINST   HIS   OWN   PEOPLE 

'cross  the  fields  with  the  rifle  the  Gov'ment  give  me 
— went  against  my  country  after  twenty-five  years 
in  harness.  She  was  takin'  me  to  Das  Marinas, 
where  I  was  to  drill  the  Gugu  army.  That  first 
night  we  slep'  at  Cavite  Viejo.  Toward  mornin'  I 
woke  up  with  the  Injin  n'  Greaser  all  out  o'  me.  It 
wasn't  too  late,  if  I  could  dodge  the  Gugu  patrols, 
to  get  back  and  explain  how  I'd  been  captured  and 
escaped.  I  got  out  o'  the  door,  but  I  hadn't  got 
to  the  road  when  the  woman  stood  before  me 
mockin'  me  with  her  smile. 

"  '  You  walk  your  sleep,  eh?  '  she  says,  though  I 
could  see  she  knew  what  I  was  thinkin'  'bout.  She 
talked  and  talked,  and  the  Greaser  n'  Injin  heard  and 
come  back.  It  wouldn't  have  done  any  good  if  I'd 
gone  on.  She  was  prepared  for  any  backslidin'  and 
had  established  guards  all  'round.  The  Greaser  n' 
Injin  had  me  for  good  then.  The  next  day  I  was 
at  Das  Marinas,  and  they  made  me  a  full  colonel 
and  rigged  me  out  in  a  captured  Spanish  uniform, 
which  is  a  great  treasure  with  them.  I  didn't  tell 
'em  my  real  name.  There  was  just  'nough  white 
man  left  in  me  for  that.  I  took  my  gran'mother's 
name,  Dark  Cloud.  My  gran'mother!  I  can 
'member  her  sittin'  in  a  shack  mumblin'  fortunes 
for  a  peso  apiece  to  the  Greasers. 

197 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

"  So  I  started  out  to  make  soldiers  out  o'  the  little 
black  runts  Aguinaldo  calls  his  army.  They  knocked 
my  theories  into  shucks.  I'd  allus  said,  gimme 
time  and  I  can  make  a  soldier  out  o'  'most  anybody 
'cept  a  rooky  out  o'  the  slums  that's  been  spoiled 
in  a  milishy  reg'ment.  I  take  it  back.  It  applies 
only  to  white  men.  A  white  man  can  be  as  wicked 
a  man  as  anybody.  But  he's  got  somethin'  a  man 
with  yeller,  brown,  or  black  skin  ain't  got — some- 
thin'  that's  been  built  up  by  centuries  o'  havin'  to 
build  houses  to  keep  out  the  cold,  I  guess.  I  tried 
to  treat  the  hayfoots  and  strawfoots  they  brought 
into  the  square  to  be  drilled  as  if  they  was  white. 
Their  own  officers  didn't,  you  bet.  There  was  no 
squad.  The  rookies  was  put  in  company  drill  first 
off.  If  they  didn't  toe  it  right  they  was  yanked  out  o' 
line  and  a  black  snake  laid  on  their  backs.  One  day 
a  little,  withered  turkey-cock  of  a  colonel — they're 
all  colonels,  the  officers — ran  his  sword  into  a  poor 
little  Gugu  who  had  all  his  wits  scared  out  o'  him. 
I  couldn't  stand  that,  so  I  slung  the  runt  'round  and 
chucked  him  into  a  ditch.  I  expected  to  be  killed 
by  the  rest  of  the  Gugus  then  and  there.  I  would 
have  been,  I  guess,  if  the  woman,  who  never  let  me 
get  far  out  o'  her  sight,  hadn't  sprung  to  my  side 
like  a  cat.  She  harangued  'em  and  called  'em  cow- 

198 


AGAINST   HIS   OWN   PEOPLE 

ards  and  pigs,  and  we  went  off  together.  That 
night  she  slep'  at  my  door. 

"  '  Maybe  they  try  to  kill  you.  I'll  watch,'  she 
said.  '  To-morrow  I  make  it  all  ri'  so  you  no  have 
man  who  want  you  die.' 

"  The  next  day  the  fellow  I  slung  into  the  ditch, 
meanin'  it  for  his  good,  was  assassinated  'long  with 
two  of  his  friends.  That's  the  way  they  run  their 
dear  republic. 

"  '  You  no  more  Americano,'  said  the  woman. 
'  You  mestizo  (half-breed)  now.  You  must  stick 
these  pigs,'  meanin'  the  rookies.  '  They  no  think 
you  a  Don.' 

"  So  I  slambanged  the  rookies  about  in  a  way 
that  if  I'd  done  the  same  to  white  men,  after  it  was 
over  I'd  been  still  all  one  piece  but  perty  soft.  And 
they  liked  me  and  thought  I  was  a  great  man.  I 
wanted  to  teach  'em  to  fight  out  in  the  open,  'stead 
o'  diggin'  trenches.  The  trouble  with  trenches  is 
that  they're  so  hard  to  move  when  t'other  fellow 
comes  'round  on  the  flank.  But  the  Gugu  can't 
fight  'thout  he  stands  behind  somethin',  any  more'n 
he  can  use  his  fists  'stead  o'  a  knife.  So  we  built 
trenches;  that  is,  the  fellows  that  hew  the  bamboo 
and  plant  the  rice  built  'em,  with  the  turkey-cock 
officers  struttin'  'bout  and  puttin'  the  fear  o'  God 

199 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

into  'em.     We  had  a  mile  of  trenches  on  the  Dang- 
wan  River  by  February  ist. 

" '  Americanos  come  to  bank.  No  can  swim 
river.  We  kill  all,'  says  the  turkey-cocks. 

"  'Bout  this  time  the  woman  and  I  was  married 
by  a  Gugu  priest.  As  we  come  out  o'  church  with 
a  crowd  and  all  the  fixin's,  I  noticed  an  old  Spanish 
padre  on  the  balcony,  smilin'  at  me,  a  smile  with 
jaws  set  and  eyes  half  open.  'Twas  plain  'nough 
he'd  seen  some  o'  the  world  besides  the  Philippines. 
The  Gugus  held  him  prisoner,  but  they  was  half 
'fraid  o'  him.  He  spoke  to  me  in  the  lingo  o'  the 
Mexican  border,  which  the  girl  couldn't  under- 
stand. 

"  '  You — you — you  mongrel/  he  says,  '  who 
broke  the  white  man's  faith,  was  your  mother  an 
Apache  or  a  Yaqui?  ' 

"  It  seemed's  if  he'd  come  all  the  way  'cross  the 
seas  to  say  that  to  me.  God  A'mighty!  How  it 
went  home ! 

"  So  we  mustered  our  army.  Oh,  it  was  a  great 
army !  It  had  a  bugler  that  could  do  the  trills  'most 
as  well  as  old  Johnny  Tubbs  of  the  Third.  It  did 
the  manual  of  arms  all  right ;  it  could  form  a  line  of 
skirmishers  all  right,  and  Lord !  how  it  could  cheer ! 
But  it  had  no  sand  in  its  craw. 

200 


AGAINST   HIS   OWN   PEOPLE 

"  Just  after  we  heard  the  Americans  was  goin'  to 
advance  in  two  or  three  days,  the  woman  says : 

"  '  You  tell  the  pigs  fight.  Make  grand  speech. 
No  go  yourself — no,  no ! ' 

"  She  was  'fraid  o'  nothin'  herself  and  I  couldn't 
understand. 

"  '  Why  not?  '  I  says. 

"  '  I  love  you/  she  says.     *  I  no  want  you  killed.' 

"  I  told  her  I  must  or  my  army — O  Lord !  my 
army ! — 'd  run. 

"  '  They  run  always.  The  pigs  run  always  when 
white  man  come.  No  can  help.  They  run  and 
leave  you  alone.' 

"  I  reminded  her  how  she  said  we  was  to  win  vic- 
tories and  rule,  and  she  says,  smilin' : 

"  '  I  say  many  thing  when  you  mad  your  Lieuten- 
ant, 'cause  I  want  you  come.  We  go  always  to- 
gether. We  go  back,  back,  back  when  Americanos 
come.  Bimeby  no  room  on  island  for  us.  Then 
we  go  Singapore,  not?  ' 

"  With  that  some  o'  the  white  man  come  back  to 
me.  She  see  it  did,  and  she  talks  and  talks  and 
says  she's  only  jokin'.  And  the  white  man  ain't 
lef  me  since.  It's  kep'  a-fightin'  with  the  Greaser 
'n  Injin,  makin'  a  hell  o'  my  insides  that  it  seemed 
'd  soon  burn  me  up.  But  there's  just  as  much 

20 1 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

fuel  left  so  far's  I   can  see  as  there  was  at  the 
start-off. 

"  The  woman'd  been  by  my  side  in  the  fight  if 
the  Americans  hadn't  come  a  day  sooner'n  we  ex- 
pected. I  oughter  known  they  would.  It's  the 
way  o'  the  Service.  And  it  was  in  the  nature  o' 
justice  that  I  had  to  face  my  own  battalion,  my 
own  comp'ny — my  own  messmates.  I  could  see 
'em  comin'  out  o'  the  bamboo  and  I  let  'em,  'thout 
givin'  the  order  to  fire.  Two  or  three  times  I  tried 
to  give  it  and  the  words  caught  in  my  throat.  A 
turkey-cock  officer  looked  at  me  and  says, '  Are  you 
betrayin'  us?  '  and  I  told  him  to  pass  the  word.  Our 
men  laid  down,  but  the  old  Major  stood  up  lookin' 
'round  with  his  glasses.  My  army — God !  my  army ! 
— was  all  shootin'  at  him.  Bimeby  he  disappeared, 
and  our  fellows  not  comin'  on,  the  Gugus  began 
cheerin',  thinkin'  they'd  won.  I  knew  better.  I 
knew  the  Major  well  enough  to  know  what  he  was 
up  to.  He  was  goin'  'round  by  the  ford  with  a 
flankin'  party.  I  knew  if  I  was  found  there  in  that 
uniform,  ev'ry  man  of  the  men  I'd  bunked  with, 
yarned  with,  and  fought  with  'd  put  a  bullet  into  my 
carcass.  I  knew  how  I  could  get  that  flankin'  party 
on  the  hip,  and  I  never  moved.  I  let  the  poor  little 
Gugus  chortle  over  their  vict'ry  one  minute  when  I 

202 


AGAINST   HIS   OWN    PEOPLE 

knew  the  next  the  trench  'd  be  a  slaughter  pit.  I'd 
raised  my  arm  against  my  country  once,  but  I 
wasn't  goin'  to  raise  it  ag'in. 

"  I  slipped  down  to  one  end  o'  the  trench  and 
when  our  men  fired  I  jumped  over  it  and  dove  into 
the  river,  with  the  yells  of  the  Gugus'  pain  and 
panic  in  my  ears.  Our  fellows  lyin'  in  front  of  the 
trench  saw  me,  takin'  me  for  a  Gugu  o'  course,  and 
begun  firm'.  It  was  my  own  comp'ny.  I  knew 
there  was  no  horseplay  to  their  shootin'.  I  slipped 
behind  a  root  of  a  tree  and  let  my  hat  float  down 
stream.  They  cut  holes  in  the  hat  and  churned  the 
water  up  'round  it  till  they  seen  there  wasn't  a  man 
under  it  and  quit.  In  a  few  minutes  they  marched 
off  up  to  the  ford  to  cross  over  and  help  the  rest  in 
the  chase. 

"  I  swum  ashore  on  the  American  bank.  It 
seemed  at  that  minute's  if  I  was  all  white  ag'in  and 
I'd  waked  up  out  o'  a  nightmare.  I  wanted  the 
barricks  and  the  parade-ground  and  the  band  in  the 
evenin'.  I  started  out,  not  knowin'  just  where  I'd 
go,  till  I  was  stopped  by  the  sight  o'  one  o'  our  own 
men  lyin'  dead.  He'd  been  overlooked  in  the  haste 
to  catch  up  with  the  advance.  The  band  in  the 
evenin'  was  still  in  my  ears.  I  was  mad  with  the 
one  idea,  and  I  made  to  take  off  his  khaki  so  I  might 

203 


have  the  harness  ag'in,  place  o'  these  rags.  Then 
I  saw  who  the  man  was.  'Twas  Berry,  old  Tom 
Berry,  that'd  give  me  a  hand  many  a  time — my 
bunky  for  two  years.  I  buttoned  up  his  blouse, 
crossed  his  hands,  laid  his  hat  over  his  face  and  slunk 
away.  I  wanted  revenge  for  his  death.  I  wanted 
to  pay  the  debt  to  the  shadow  that's  followed  me 
since  I  was  old  'nough  t'  reason. 

"  At  first  I  was  for  goin'  out  alone  in  the  brush 
and  gunnin'  for  Gugu  soldiers,  a-cuttin'  as  many 
notches  on  my  rifle-stock  as  I  could  'fore  they  got 
me.  But  I  couldn't  get  the  longin'  for  the  feelin'  o' 
the  harness  on  my  back  ag'in  out  o'  my  head.  I 
want  to  wear  it  once  more,  if  only  for  a  day.  And 
I've  come  to  you,  Mrs.  Gerlison,  who  can  do  it  for 
me  if  anyone  can.  Yes,  death's  the  only  penalty. 
I  expect  it.  I  want  a  squad  to  go  with  me  to  hunt 
in  the  places  where  I  know  the  prey  is  and  to  be 
killed  that  way — or  any  way  in  harness,  so  I  can  pay 
back  a  little  o'  what  I  owe !  " 

By  way  of  reply  Mrs.  Gerlison  put  a  question 
which,  as  you  will  see  later,  is  not  as  much  out  of 
place  as  it  appears  to  be. 

"  What  became  of  Private  Darklin  who  de- 
serted from  our  regiment  to  the  Filipinos?  "  she 
asked. 

204 


AGAINST   HIS   OWN   PEOPLE 

"  Died  of  dysentery,"  he  replied. 

"  And  now  as  to  your  request,"  she  said.  "  You 
have  broken  faith  twice.  You  broke  faith  as  an 
officer  to  those  men  in  the  trenches  when  you  might 
have  saved  them.  Is  it  not  so?" 

"  Yes.  You're  right,"  he  slowly  admitted. 
"Yes,  I'm  worse'n  I  thought." 

"  You  know  the  oath  you  took  when  you  en- 
listed. You  know  the  penalty  of  such  offence.  I 
think  that  there  will  be  no  mercy  for  you,  an  old 
non-commissioned  officer.  Would  you  show  any 
if  you  were  a  commissioned  officer  and  on  the 
court?  " 

"  No." 

"  Can  you  justly  expect  any?  " 

"  No." 

"Then  there  is  but  one  thing  for  you  to  do,  if 
you  wish  to  show  that  you  are  a  soldier  again.  That 
is  to  face  the  facts  and  their  consequences." 

"  In  jail  to-night  and  never  ag'in  to  wear  the  uni- 
form, and  shot  by  my  messmates!  I — I  can't  do 
that." 

"  Then  you  had  better  sneak  back  as  you  came, 
to  the  insurgents.  I  shall  not  break  your  confi- 
dence, of  course." 

"  Sneak !  sneak !  "  He  weighed  the  words,  while 
205 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

he  pressed  his  nails  into  his  palms.  "  I've  been 
Greaser  n'  Injin  enough.  I've  sneaked  enough! 
I'll  go  out  o'  the  world  with  my  head  up  like  a 
man!  "  As  he  rose,  he  added,  in  the  matter-of-fact 
tone  of  one  who  has  made  up  his  mind :  "  I'm  go- 
in'  to  quarters  and  give  myself  up  now." 

Mrs.  Gerlison  stepped  over  to  him  and  laid  her 
hand  on  his  shoulder,  smiling  as  she  said : 

"  The  court  adjourns,  the  prisoner  having  shown 
himself  a  man.  I  know  all  about  the  fight  at  Dang- 
wan  yesterday.  It  was  Darklin,  confused  with 
your  Dark  Cloud,  who,  we  supposed,  was  in  com- 
mand of  the  insurgents.  As  for  you,  your  record 
has  saved  you.  It  was  thought  that  you  were 
honestly  captured.  No  one  suspects  you.  So 
you  will  be  welcomed  back,  unless  I  become  a 
witness  against  you.  Will  you  promise  me  that 
in  future  death  alone  shall  separate  you  from 
duty?  " 

There  were  tears  in  Kanley's  voice  as  well  as  in 
his  eyes  as  he  said : 

"I  do,  so  help  me  God!" 

"  And  what  are  you  going  to  tell  the  Colonel  and 
your  fellows?  " 

"  That  a  dozen  insurgents  run  me  in  while  I  was 
lookin'  for  mangoes — and  not  much  else." 

206 


AGAINST   HIS   OWN   PEOPLE 

"  And  not  much  else,  Sergeant.     Remember !    A 
leak  may  lead  to  a  flood.     Good-night." 


The  story  might  well  end  thus  in  fiction.  How- 
ever, it  does  not  in  fact. 

More  than  a  month  afterward,  the  Sergeant,  a 
fashion-plate  for  "  non-coms "  from  his  waxed 
mustache  to  his  shining  boots,  appeared  on  Mrs. 
Gerlison's  porch  at  a  favorable  hour  when  she  had 
no  visitors. 

"  It's  'bout  the  woman,"  he  told  her.  "Consid- 
erin'  circumstances,  when  it  comes  to  anything 
'bout  her  I  thought  I  was  bound  to  come  to  you.  I 
ought  to  known  I  couldn't  get  her  out  o'  my  mind 
as  easy's  I  thought.  Do  what  I  could,  I  kep' 
thinkin'  o'  her.  As  I  heard  Paddy  Hourigan 
sayin'  to  Bill  Banby  when  they  didn't  know  I  was 
listenin': 

"  '  Somethin's  eatin'  into  the  Sergeant's  mind  and 
he's  goin'  off  his  head  one  o'  these  days.  You'll 
see.' 

"  It  seemed  sometimes  as  if  she  was  thinkin'  o' 
me  to  make  me  think  o'  her,  as  if  she  was  talkin'  to 
me  and  callin'  me  to  come.  I  used  to  look  over  my 
shoulder  as  I  set  in  the  shade  away  from  everybody, 
expectin'  to  see  her  there,  till — well,  till  I  did  see 

207 


THE  WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

her  one  afternoon  comin'  down  the  street,  and  no 
mistake.  I  went  into  head-quarters  as  if  I  was 
runnin'  from  the  devil.  I  begged  the  Colonel's  par- 
don and  pointed  her  out  to  him  as  she  passed.  She 
didn't  even  look  up  to  the  buildin'. 

"  '  She's  a  spy,'  I  says.  '  She's  smarter'n  the  whole 
Gugu  army  put  together.  She  oughtn't  to  be  al- 
lowed in  town,  if  I  might  make  the  suggestion.' 

"  He  never  said  a  word,  'cept  to  send  a  guard  t' 
take  her  out  and  warn  her  not  to  come  back. 

"  I  was  so  anxious  not  to  have  her  look  at  me 
with  her  devil's  eyes  and  talk  to  me  ag'in — to  guard 
myself  ag'in  temptation — that  I  didn't  think  she 
might  out  with  the  whole  story  to  the  guard  and  it'd 
be  all  over  with  me.  I  was  in  torment  for  two  or 
three  days.  Not  hearin'  any  thin',  I  asked  the  Cor- 
poral of  the  guard  what  the  lady'd  said. 

"  '  She's  a  bird ! '  he  says.  '  She  says  nothin'  'cept 
— says  it  in  English,  too — "  All  ri'.  Me  good  Ameri- 
cano. All  ri'.  You  like  make  walk  hot  sun,  eh?" 
And  laughed  to  herself  all  the  way  out  to  the  bridge 
where  we  left  her.' 

"  You  see,  she  wouldn't  do  nothin'  to  harm  me. 
When  I  realized  what  that  meant,  I  set  by  myself 
more'n  more,  and  there  was  times,  so  help  me  God, 
when  if  it  hadn't  been  for  the  mem'ry  o'  the  look  on 

208 


AGAINST   HIS   OWN   PEOPLE 

your  face  that  night  I'd  just  nacherly  gone  out  into 
the  brush  to  find  her  'thout  knowin'  what  I  was 
doin'. 

"  But  the  worst  is  to  come.  Last  Wednesday  the 
Colonel  sent  me  out  with  a  squad  to  stop  some  snip- 
in'.  I  got  on  to  the  snipers  all  right,  and  they  run 
soon's  I  did.  The  point  is  they  didn't  run  Gugu 
fashion.  They'd  fall  and  fire,  'bout  a  dozen  of  'em, 
and  then  get  back,  all  in  good  order.  They  hit  two 
o'  my  men.  I  got  my  mad  up  and  went  farther'n  I 
expected.  I  laid  for  one  that  seemed  to  be  doin'  all 
the  bossin'.  I  shot  a  dozen  times  and  missed  him, 
till  finally  I  sneaked  up  to  within  two  hundred  yards 
of  'em.  They  seemed  to  be  waitin'  for  us,  and  so  I 
got  a  bead  on  the  leader  and  dropped  him.  At  that 
we  charged,  and  they  laid  down  and,  what  I  couldn't 
'count  for,  not  firin'  a  shot.  As  I  come  up  to  'em — 
well,  I  seen  that  the  leader  was  a  woman — yes,  the 
woman — in  a  Gugu  uniform. 

" '  I  want  you  back.  I  plan.  I  get  you,'  she 
says. 

"  I  heard  a  yell,  and  looked  to  see  three  or  four 
hundred  Gugus  from  both  sides  right  on  top  of  us. 
They  had  us  all  right.  The  woman,  so  faint  she 
couldn't  hardly  speak,  says  to  their  turkey-cock 
colonel : 

209 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

"  '  Let  him  go.' 

"  And  the  Gugu  crowd  sneaked  off. 

"  Then  she  says  to  me : 

'  I  no  can  have  you  now.     Good-by !    You  go 
back,  be  real  white  man ! ' 

"  And  that's  why,"  the  Sergeant  concluded,  "  I'm 
wearin'  this  bit  o'  crape  on  my  arm.  That's  why  I 
can  never  be  exactly  happy.  That's  why  there  ain't 
a  steadier  man  in  the  Service  now  than  me.  For  all 
the  Injin  n'  Greaser  in  me  died  with  her." 


210 


MARRYING    OUT    OF    THE 
ARMY 


MARRYING    OUT    OF   THE    ARMY 

WHAT  remained  of  the  Eleventh  was  tired, 
cynical,  and  business-like.  Twenty  per 
cent,  of  its  muster  was  dead  or  in  the  hospital  at  the 
close  of  the  fifth  day  of  the  movement  on  Malolos. 
On  the  sixth  day,  as  sheer  humanity  demanded,  it 
was  put  in  the  reserve — with  the  prospect  now,  at 
dusk,  of  being  in  the  advance  again  on  the  morrow. 
In  response  to  the  order  to  halt,  the  men  impulsively, 
and  the  officers  with  a  semblance  of  deliberation, 
sank  to  the  embankment  of  the  railway.  They 
might  be  going  into  camp  in  five  minutes;  or,  they 
might  have  to  wait  an  hour  and  then  march  five 
miles,  as  every  mother's  son  in  the  regiment  well 
knew. 

Colonel  Sterne  was  seated  on  the  abutment  of  a 
bridge  spanning  a  gully  which  was  the  course  of  a 
torrent  in  the  rainy  season.  So  were  the  regimental 
Surgeon  and  the  Major  of  the  Second  Battalion — 
but  not  the  Acting  Adjutant,  First  Lieutenant 
"  Bobby  "  Sanderson. 

Bobby  stood  on  a  tie  twirling,  by  its  silk  tassel, 
213 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

the  gold-headed  cane  of  the  late  Presidente  of 
Marilao  around  his  finger.  The  presence  of  his 
superabundance  of  physical  energy  irritated  the  old 
Colonel,  who  was  mopping  his  brow  with  one  hand 
and  using  his  hat  as  a  fan  with  the  other. 

"  Mr.  Sanderson,"  he  said,  "  that  stick  is  property 
as  much  as  anything  else.  You  must  turn  it  in." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  Bobby  replied.  "  I  was  carrying  it  so 
as  to  make  sure  by  turning  it  in  in  person." 

If  the  Colonel  had  any  reply  it  was  forgotten  in 
the  arrival  of  an  orderly,  who  told  him  that  the 
Eleventh  would  pass  the  night  on  the  right  of  a  cer- 
tain road  at  the  edge  of  a  certain  grove  of  bamboo, 
with  the  South  Dakotas  on  its  left.  After  the  regi- 
mental staff  had  eaten  its  hardtack  and  corned  beef 
and  drunk  its  coffee,  and  was  lying  on  its  blankets, 
it  tried,  as  the  whole  army  was  trying,  to  sleep.  For 
fifteen  minutes  there  was  silence.  Then,  nip-nip, 
something  cut  the  branches  of  the  mango-trees,  and 
pop-pop,  something  exploded  the  hollows  of  the 
bamboos. 

"  Sniping  us  again,"  thought  the  regiment,  with 
half-opened  eyes.  The  Colonel  rose  up  on  his 
elbow.  As  he  did  so  a  dozen  bullets  passed  over- 
head, and  our  outposts  began  to  reply. 

"  How  annoying !  "  he  remarked.  "  I  thought 
214 


MARRYING   OUT   OF   THE   ARMY 

that  we  should  get  one  comfortable  night.  Mr. 
Sanderson,  ascertain  what  it's  about." 

Bobby's  departure  was  in  due  time  followed  by 
some  Krag  volleying,  which  put  an  end  to  firing 
from  the  other  side.  Meanwhile  a  great  event  had 
taken  place.  Bobby,  picking  his  way  back  through 
the  bamboo  thicket,  was  informed  by  Fairweather, 
of  Company  C,  of  the  news  which  had  travelled  as 
fast  as  that  of  a  death  of  a  general  in  the  field.  The 
officers  of  the  regiment  had  postponed  sleep  to  dis- 
cuss it  in  the  dark. 

"  The  Colonel's  just  received  a  telegram  from 
Molly,"  Fairweather  said.  "  She  was  to  have 
stayed  in  Hong-Kong  with  friends  until  the  Colonel 
knew  where  he  was  to  be  settled,  or,  at  least,  could 
come  to  Manila  and  take  care  of  her.  She  has  re- 
plied, saying  that  she  will  be  in  the  bay  day  after  to- 
morrow morning,  on  the  Lang  Wang,  or  some  such 
Chinese  thing." 

"  Good  for  Molly!  She  inherits  the  spirit  of  the 
Service." 

"  The  old  man  has  been  grouchy  enough  all  day," 
Fairweather  concluded,  "  and  this  is  the  straw  that 
about  breaks  the  camel's  back." 

The  regiment  was  devoted  to  Molly.  Most  of 
the  unmarried  officers  had  experienced  a  period  of 

215 


being  "  serious,"  and  when  Molly  had  told  them 
confidentially  that  she  wouldn't  think  of  such  a  thing 
as  marrying,  she  made  it  easy  for  them  to  hide  their 
disappointment  by  publicly  and  platonically  appre- 
ciating her  as  a  regimental  blessing.  Fairweather 
was  one  of  these,  having  learned  his  fate  at  Dear- 
born. As  for  the  irresponsible  Bobby,  he  had  never 
been  anything  like  in  love  since  he  was  sixteen,  when 
he  suffered  for  only  a  week.  Molly  had  boxed  his 
ears  in  return  for  his  setting  the  latest  arrival  from 
the  Academy  on  to  make  love  to  her;  and  he  had 
frequently  taken  money  to  her  to  keep  against  the 
expense  of  a  vacation  in  the  East.  Once  he  saved 
all  of  three  months'  pay  in  this  way.  He  spent  it, 
and  was  owing  two  months'  besides,  when  he  re- 
turned with  thirty-five  cents  to  his  name.  The 
change  was  in  an  overcoat  pocket  where  he  had 
overlooked  it. 

As  Bobby  approached  him,  the  Colonel  was  sit- 
ting up  on  his  blanket  with  his  hands  crossed  over 
his  knees  looking  into  space.  Bobby  saluted. 
The  Colonel  nodded. 

"  Forty  or  fifty  Filipinos  crept  up  a  gully,  which 
furnished  them  protection,  two-thirds  of  the  way  to 
our  lines,"  he  reported.  "  I  took  a  platoon  and 
drove  them  out.  Didn't  get  many,  because  they 

216 


MARRYING   OUT   OF   THE  ARMY 

sneaked  off  as  they  had  come — under  cover.  They'll 
be  back  sniping  again  early  in  the  morning.  I 
thought  if  you  were  willing  I  would  take  Sergeant 
Burke  and  twenty  picked  men  and  creep  around 
behind  them,  then — the  ground  permits  it;  I  looked 
it  over — bag  the  lot." 

Bobby  had  not  the  slightest  idea  that  the  Colonel, 
who  had  refused  many  similar  ones,  would  grant 
his  request. 

"  Very  well,"  said  the  Colonel,  absent-mindedly. 

Bobby  wanted  to  jump  into  the  air  and  knock  his 
heels  together.  What  he  did  was  to  worry  in  si- 
lence, lest  the  Colonel  should  change  his  mind.  But 
the  Colonel  quite  dismissed  the  subject  by  pulling  a 
piece  of  paper  out  of  the  inside  pocket  of  his  blouse. 

"  Can  you  get  me  a  light,  Mr.  Sanderson?  "  he 
asked. 

Bobby  brought  forth  a  stub  of  candle  from  his 
bedding  and  held  it,  while,  by  its  flickering  flame, 
the  Colonel  read  for  the  tenth  time  the  following : 

"  '  Horrid  place.  Can't  wait  here  while  you're 
fighting.  Arrive  Thursday  morning  on  the  Loong 
Sang.  Don't  make  target  of  yourself  and  do  take 
cover  for  sake  your  loving  Molly.' ' 

It  did  not  matter  that  the  cable  tolls  from  Hong- 
Kong  to  Manila  were  ninety  cents  a  word.  The 

217, 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

Colonel  would  have  gone  on  to  the  parade-ground 
in  a  shabby  uniform  rather  than  have  had  Molly 
know  that  she  was  extravagant.  Whatever  econ- 
omy, with  all  his  pay  to  spend,  she  had  practised 
since  her  mother's  death  was  purely  conscientious. 
Clearly  defined  in  the  shadows,  her  father's  fine  old 
face,  with  its  big  Roman  nose  and  military  mus- 
tache and  goatee,  told  only  too  well  that  he  con- 
sidered himself  a  grossly  outraged  man.  He  had 
received  two  wounds  at  San  Juan,  and  before  he  had 
fairly  recovered  had  been  sent  again  to  the  tropics 
to  face  the  hardships  of  bushwhacking  in  the  jungle. 
He  "  let  go  "  with  his  lost  temper  for  a  moment 
against  the  wrongs  of  the  regular  Service  and  closed 
his  little  speech  with  the  customary  remark  (on  such 
occasions)  that  he  was  going  to  resign  as  soon  as 
these  Filipinos  were  whipped  and  he  decently 
could. 

"  Probably  she  came  down  from  Hong-Kong 
without  any  chaperone,"  he  added,  leaving  off  theo- 
ries to  take  up  conditions.  "  Of  course,  Mrs.  Gerli- 
son  would  see  that  she  was  established  at  the  hotel 
with  some  officer's  wife  to  look  after  her,  and  Field 
would  go  out  for  her  on  the  Quartermaster's  launch. 
But  that  is  not  like  going  myself,  or  having  some 
one  from  the  regiment  go." 

218 


MARRYING   OUT   OF   THE   ARMY 

;<  You  might  send  me  into  town  on  business," 
Bobby  suggested. 

'  Yes,  you  always  have  a  way  out  of  everything, 
don't  you,  Mr.  Sanderson? "  said  the  Colonel, 
sharply.  "  Well,  it's  possible.  Malolos  is  our  ob- 
jective. We'll  be  in  there  in  the  morning,  though 
we  may  have  something  of  a  brush.  The  railway 
is  intact  right  up  to  the  lines,  and  you  could  go  on 
the  train  after  the  engagement.  Very  well.  Good- 
night, Mr.  Sanderson." 

"  Good-night,  Colonel." 

Bobby  wanted  to  jump  in  the  air  and  kick  his 
heels  together  again  at  the  prospect  of  seeing  Molly 
and  hearing  all  the  "  home  talk."  What  he  did  was 
to  worry  again  in  silence  until  the  Colonel's  eyes 
were  closed,  for  fear  that  the  Colonel  would  sud- 
denly recall  what  he  had  been  talking  about  previ- 
ously and  say:  "  No,  sir;  you  can't  go  risking  lives 
stumbling  around  any  gully  in  the  dark." 

Shortly  before  midnight  Bobby  picked  his  way 
among  the  forms  of  the  men  to  the  side  of  Sergeant 
Burke,  who,  when  Bobby  shook  him,  emitted  a 
cuss  word  for  the  benefit  of  the  supposed  private, 
and  then,  recognizing  Bobby,  jumped  to  his  feet 
and  saluted.  Bobby  explained  his  little  plan. 
Flushed  with  the  joy  of  the  thing,  Burke  went  from 

219 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

one  sleeping  man  to  another  until  he  had  picked 
out  the  twenty  best  shots  in  B  and  C  companies. 

What  followed  is  a  part  of  the  history  of  the  regi- 
ment. Suffice  it  that  at  dawn,  while  the  General 
and  his  staff  were  drinking  their  coffee  and  the  ar- 
tillery was  passing  up  the  road  to  open  the  engage- 
ment, Bobby  and  the  Sergeant  appeared  on  the 
scene  with  a  picturesque  procession  behind  them. 
All  his  men  and  all  the  prisoners  were  either  carry- 
ing native  wounded  or  bundles  of  captured  rifles. 

"  Ninety-six  Mausers  and  eighteen  Remingtons," 
Bobby  reported,  "  and  a  colonel  and  a  major," 
nodding  to  two  crestfallen  little  Tagal  officers — 
"  who  may  give  you  some  information." 

"  Well,  well,  Mr.  Sanderson,"  said  the  General, 
his  eyes  sparkling  under  his  Quaker  hat;  "  that's 
more  than  the  whole  division  has  taken  in  the  last 
three  days.  How  did  you  do  it?  " 

"  They  were  in  a  gully.  I  got  behind  them,  and 
had  them  like  rats  in  a  sewer  with  both  ends  closed. 
A  very  valorous  deed,  sir,"  Bobby  added  with  a 
laugh,  "  considering  that  we  had  no  casualties." 

The  General  was  on  the  point  of  offering  Bobby 
a  place  on  his  staff.  To  be  trained  by  the  head 
under  that  Quaker  hat  was  the  same  as  being  a 
"  made  man  "  in  the  Eighth  Army  Corps.  On 

220 


MARRYING   OUT   OF   THE   ARMY 

second  thought,  he  apprehended  how  easy  it  would 
be  for  Bobby  to  upset  even  the  gravity  of  a  Presby- 
terian Synod  and  he  postponed  consideration  of  the 
matter.  So  Bobby  turned  over  his  prisoners  and 
their  arms  and  ammunition  to  the  proper  authori- 
ties of  the  division,  bade  Burke  get  some  breakfast 
for  his  men,  and,  without  thinking  of  any  breakfast 
for  himself,  hurried  off  to  the  Colonel,  who,  not 
having  slept  at  all,  and  having  been  too  nauseated 
to  eat  anything,  was  now  almost  in  a  temper  be- 
cause the  Adjutant,  whom  he  deceived  himself  that 
he  could  not  rely  upon  at  all,  was  not  at  his  side. 
Therefore,  Bobby  worried  all  through  the  march 
into  Malolos — for  the  morning's  work  cannot  be 
dignified  with  the  name  of  engagement — lest  the 
Colonel  should  revoke  his  leave  to  go  into  town. 
The  first  of  the  two  daily  trains  went,  and  still  the 
Colonel  said  nothing.  An  hour  before  the  time  set 
by  the  Staff  Quartermaster  for  the  departure  of  the 
second  train  he  was  bold  enough  to  recall  the  sub- 
ject, saying,  in  his  pleasantest  tone: 

"  Molly's  coming  in  the  morning,  isn't  she?  " 

"Don't  you  suppose  I  know  it?"  the  Colonel 

snapped.     "  I've  been  trying  ever  since  last  night 

to  get  up  enough  courage  to  ask  leave  to  go  into 

town,  myself;  but  I've  no  business  to.     It  isn't  in 

221 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

the  line  of  duty  to  meet  your  daughter;  and  there's 
an  end  of  it.     So  you'll  have  to  go — you'll  have  to 

go." 

He  walked  along  the  rough  ballast  of  the  track 
under  the  broiling  sun  with  Bobby  to  the  train, 
calling  out  as  the  last  of  many  repeated  injunctions : 

"  See  that  she's  comfortable — no  matter  what  the 
cost;  and  tell  her  that  I  will  come  to  Manila  very 
soon,  and  she  mustn't  think  of  trying  to  come  out  to 
Malolos." 

It  took  the  train  four  hours  to  wriggle  in  the 
twenty-five  miles  to  Manila,  over  twisted  rails 
joined  together  in  "  some  fashion  "  by  the  engi- 
neers, and  past  burned  stations  and  deserted  vil- 
lages. Bobby  went  at  once  to  Calle  Nozaleda. 

"We  can't  think  of  letting  Molly  go  to  that 
abominable  Spanish  hotel,"  said  Mrs.  Gerlison; 
"  she  must  come  and  live  with  me  in  my  abominable 
Spanish  house.  What  with  the  things  we  get  from 
the  Commissary,  what  that  rascal,  Ah  Foy,  my 
cook,  buys  at  the  market,  and  my  chafing-dish, 
I  manage  to  exist.  Anyway,  it's  a  lot  better  than 
the  hotel.  So  we'll  do  until  the  Colonel  comes  into 
town  and  regularly  sets  up  an  establishment  of  his 
own,  which,  of  course,  will  put  mine  in  the  shade; 
as  I  devoutly  hope  it  will,  if  this  heat  keeps  up." 

222 


MARRYING   OUT   OF   THE  ARMY 

"  That  settles  it,"  said  Bobby.  "  I'll  telegraph 
the  Colonel  the  news  and  he  will  cut  my  leave  short 
as  a  reward  for  using  my  influence  in  behalf  of  a 
homeless  girl — eh?  " 

Bobby  was  not  the  sole  passenger  on  the  First 
Quartermaster's  launch,  which  steamed  out  into  the 
lead-colored,  glassy  bay,  already  (at  7  A.M.)  dully 
gleaming  with  the  heat  of  the  sun.  No  more  were 
all  the  others  merely  Ministers  Plenipotentiary  on 
behalf  of  officers  in  the  field.  Some  were  the  kings 
themselves.  On  this  morning  the  joy  aboard  the 
old  China  coast  trader  was  not  to  be  alloyed  by  the 
moan  of  a  woman's  grief.  Two  husbands  and  one 
son  had  been  wounded,  but  none  had  been  killed. 
Bobby,  swinging  himself  up  under  the  rope  rail  of 
the  gangway,  was  the  first  on  deck. 

"  Molly,"  he  cried,  as  he  seized  both  her  hands, 
"  in  behalf  of  the  regiment,  which  sends  you  its  love, 
I  will  formally  and  publicly  state  that  you're  look- 
ing so  fine,  all  in  white,  that  I've  a  notion  to  kiss 
you,  officially,  for  your  father." 

She  did  not  reply  with  fully  armed  and  armored 
banter  as  she  would  have  in  the  old  days;  and  it  was 
the  absence  of  this  which  first  aroused  in  Bobby's 
mind  the  suspicions  which  were  justified  by  later 
events. 

223 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

"  Mr.  Sanderson !  "  she  said,  "  you  had  better  not. 
Mr.  Sanderson,  how  is  my  father?  " 

"Mr.  Sanderson!"  he  mocked  her.  "Mr.  San- 
derson does  not  know  a  thing  about  your  precious 
father  until  you  call  him  Bobby.  What  kind  of 
manners  have  you  been  learning  on  the  way  across 
the  Pacific?" 

"  Oh,  Bobby,  then,  quick !  "  She  put  her  hand 
on  his  arm.  "  Tell  me,  nothing  has  happened?  " 

"  Your  father  is  a  little  tired,  without  so  much 
as  a  scratch.  We've  taken  Malolos.  He's  there 
with  his  regiment  and  sent  me  to  make  prepara- 
tions for  you.  You're  to  live  with  Mrs.  Gerlison 
until  he  comes  to  town  and  fixes  something  per- 
manent." 

"  It's  very  nice  of  Mrs.  Gerlison."  Here  Molly 
became  unnatural  again.  "  I  will  call  and  thank 
her.  But  I'm  going  to  stop  at  the  hotel  with  Mrs. 
Bickerford,  who  has  kindly  chaperoned  me  down 
from  Hong-Kong." 

With  this,  Molly  introduced  to  Bobby  the  wife  of 
a  well-known  and  well-to-do  political — mark  the 
word,  political — brigadier-general  of  volunteers, 
with  whose  military  career  Bobby  was  quite  fa- 
miliar. It  was  Bickerford  who,  having  tied  his  line 
into  a  knot  and  waited  three  hours  for  the  news- 

224 


MARRYING  OUT  OF  THE  ARMY 

paper  correspondents  to  come  up,  charged  into  the 
town  of  Balingtig,  where  he  found  in  front  of  the 
Presidente's  house  a  small  fat  artist  sketching,  for 
an  illustrated  paper,  the  sole  defender  of  the  town, 
an  aged  woman.  So  Bobby  was  bound  on  prin- 
ciple to  be  merely  polite  to  Mrs.  Bickerford  and  not 
to  like  her. 

"  And  this,  Mr.  Sanderson,"  Molly  continued, 
turning  to  a  man  who  was  standing  by  the  side  of 
Mrs.  Bickerford,  "  is  Mr.  Opdyke." 

Poor  Mr.  Opdyke,  with  moist  handkerchief  in 
hand,  was  suffering  from  the  contrast  between  the 
cool  air  twelve  hours  off  Manila  and  the  oven  which 
the  vessel  passed  into  as  soon  as  she  was  under  the 
lee  of  Luzon.  Mr.  Opdyke  was  large  about  the 
waist  and  had  the  air  of  Broadway.  Bobby  after- 
ward officially  described  him  to  the  regiment  as  a 
"  soft  importation  with  three  diamond  rings — 
three ! "  And  Bobby  held  up  three  fingers  as  he 
spoke.  Mr.  Opdyke's  opinion  of  Bobby,  at  first 
sight,  was  no  more  complimentary.  "  I'll  bet  the 
young  fool  couldn't  draw  his  check  for  three  cents," 
was  Mr.  Opdyke's  mental  comment.  This  was 
perfectly  true.  In  all  the  time  since  his  rich  uncle 
secured  an  appointment  to  West  Point,  in  order  to 
keep  his  mischievous  nephew  out  of  an  apprentice- 

225 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

ship  in  his  own  glue  works,  Bobby  had  never  had  a 
bank  account. 

"  You'll  go  off  in  the  Quartermaster's  launch,  of 
course,"  Bobby  said.  "  Shall  I  help  you  with  your 
baggage?  " 

"  No,  thank  you,"  was  the  reply.  "  Mr.  Opdyke 
has  some  friends  in  business  here  and  their  launch 
is  waiting  to  get  alongside  now." 

Whereupon  Mr.  Opdyke  seemed  as  much  relieved 
as  if  Molly  had  been  snatched  from  the  burning.  It 
was  patent  to  the  most  superficial  observer  that  he 
was  hopelessly  in  love  with  her. 

"  Then  I  will  hurry  back  by  the  afternoon  train 
and  assure  the  Colonel  that  you  are  in  the  best  of 
hands."  Bowing,  he  passed  down  the  gangway. 

As  he  related  the  incident  to  Mrs.  Gerlison,  who 
was  everybody's  confidant,  he  remarked,  with  a  sad 
shake  of  his  head : 

"  And  Molly's  always  been  such  good  fun.  I 
thought  she  would  be  the  last  girl  in  the  world  to 
turn  snob.  Didn't  you?  " 

"  Oh,  I  don't  think  that  she  had  the  slightest  idea 
of  being  snobbish.  You  see,  others  come  to  ma- 
turity, even  if  you  don't,  Bobby,  and  a  girl  can't 
always  be  a  tomboy.  Besides,  I  have  always  had 
an  idea  that  Molly  would  marry  out  of  the  army 

226 


MARRYING   OUT   OF   THE   ARMY 

and  eventually  become  a  dignified  leader  of  society, 
anyway." 

Mrs.  Gerlison  watched  Bobby  narrowly  out  of 
the  corner  of  her  eye  for  the  effect  of  her  words. 

"  But  what  has  marrying  got  to  do  with  it?  "  he 
asked.  "That's  Molly's  business;  but  it's  no  rea- 
son why  she  should  be  haughty  to  the  Eleventh." 

"  If  he  does,  he  does  not  know  it,"  Mrs.  Gerlison 
thought.  "  And  I  think  he  does.  What  a  tumult 
there'll  be  if  he  awakens  to  it  too  late  " — a  remark 
which  you  are  to  interpret  for  yourself. 

A  telegram  ordering  the  Eleventh  into  Manila  for 
police  duty  passed  Bobby  on  the  train  on  his  way 
to  Malolos,  where  he  found  the  Colonel  in  good 
humor  with  the  whole  world  at  the  prospect  of  be- 
ing with  his  daughter  in  the  next  twenty-four  hours, 
while  every  officer  in  the  regiment  had  assured  him- 
self that  he  should  have  one  dance  with  Molly  at 
the  next  provost-marshal's  "  hop."  But  Molly 
danced  only  twice  at  the  next  provost-marshal's 
hop — once  with  Mr.  Opdyke  and  once  with  General 
Bickerford — and  went  home  early.  By  this  time 
everybody  knew  that  Mr.  Opdyke  was  very  rich; 
and  everybody  concluded  that  Molly  was  going  to 
marry  for  money.  Her  old  father  seemed  highly 
pleased  with  the  arrangement,  and  he  sat  facing  the 

227 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

couple  every  evening  when  they  drove  on  the  Lu- 
neta.  Tropical  campaigning,  which  led  one  colonel 
to  resign  the  first  day  he  was  out  in  the  field  with 
his  regiment,  had  awakened  him  to  a  sense  of  his 
age  and  disabilities.  He  was  beginning  to  realize 
how  little  would  be  left  for  Molly  in  the  event  of  his 
death.  She  would  marry  well,  while  he  would  retire 
and  live  near  New  York.  A  dozen  times  he  was 
on  the  point  of  resigning,  but,  when  it  came  to  the 
test,  postponed  it  upon  the  plea  that  he  owed  it 
to  his  country  to  wait  until  the  dry  season's  cam- 
paign was  over,  at  any  rate.  He  did  not  admit  to 
himself  that  it  was  disagreeable  for  a  man  who  had 
been  mustered  out  as  Major-General  of  Volunteers 
in  1865  to  be  retired  as  a  Colonel  as  long  as  there 
was  a  hope  of  becoming  a  Brigadier  in  the  Regulars. 
Of  course,  it  did  not  even  occur  to  him  that  his  love 
of  the  Service  was  too  deep-seated  for  him  to  be 
happy  out  of  it. 

When  he  was  in  the  Ayuntamiento  one  day,  the 
tireless  Patient  and  Well-abused  One  who  ran  all 
the  departments  of  the  army  with  his  pad  and  pencil 
and  still  had  time  to  keep  track  of  army  gossip, 
looked  up  from  his  desk  and  said : 

"  So  you  think  your  daughter  will  live  in  New 
York— eh,  Sterne?" 

"  Well,  I  think  the  army  doesn't  offer  much  re- 
228 


MARRYING   OUT   OF   THE  ARMY 

ward,  and  I  want  to  see  my  child  well  settled  in  life. 
Why,  you've  often  expressed  such  opinions  your- 
self." " 

"  Yes,  yes,  we  all  talk.  Behind  it  all,  once  in  the 
Service,  you  are  forever  of  it.  We  don't  like  to 
lose  such  a  girl  as  Molly." 

"  He'll  be  overlooking  my  table  expenses  yet," 
growled  the  Colonel  as  he  left  the  room. 

"  Pudge  "  Bilter,  who  received  his  nickname  at 
the  Academy,  took  Molly's  desertion  most  seriously 
of  all  the  officers  of  the  Eleventh — on  principle,  not 
that  he  entertained  any  hopes  for  himself.  He  had 
proposed  to  Molly  within  a  fortnight  after  he  joined 
the  regiment;  had  thought  seriously  of  suicide,  and 
then  turned  philosopher.  It  was  more  than  a 
month  after  Molly  arrived  when  he  buttonholed 
Bobby,  one  day,  on  the  Escolta,  and  said,  impetu- 
ously, after  a  circumlocutory  introduction: 

"  Bobby,  it's  a  pity.  She's  going  to  be  awfully 
unhappy  with  that  fellow.  I  wouldn't  mind  so 
much  if  he  were  the  real  thing  of  his  kind.  He  isn't. 
Do  you  think  he  is?  " 

"  Oh,  I  suppose  he's  a  real  thing  of  some  kind — 
but  not  my  kind.  Three  diamond  rings.  Three !  " 

"  You're  to  blame,  Bobby.  You  could  keep  her 
in  the  regiment  if  you  would." 

"  I  could?    How,  for  Heaven's  sake?  " 
229 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE  SERVICE 

"  You're  the  only  fellow  in  the  regiment  who 
could,  and  why  don't  you  get  her  away  from  that 
soft  thing?  " 

"  Pudge,  you're  suffering  from  the  heat;  you  had 
better  step  under  the  awning  there  for  a  time  and 
fan  yourself.  Morning !  " 

Bobby  frequently  passed  a  few  words — but  only  a 
few — with  Molly  on  the  Luneta  in  the  evening. 
She  still  addressed  him  by  the  name  by  which  he 
was  known  throughout  the  army.  Their  banter 
still  had  the  form,  but  none  of  the  heart,  of  the  old 
days.  The  evening  after  Pudge's  outburst  it  hap- 
pened that  neither  her  father  nor  Mr.  Opdyke  was 
with  her.  She  moved  over  to  make  room  for  him 
on  the  seat  by  her  side;  and  she  spoke  with  some- 
thing of  the  old  confidential  fellowship. 

"  Mr.  Opdyke  has  gone  over  to  Cavite,"  she  said. 
"  He's  been  very  patient,  you  know,  Bobby." 

"  About  what  ?  "  he  asked,  innocently. 

"  About  the  military  situation,  of  course.  I  have 
promised  him  an  answer  to-morrow  and  I'm  going 
to  say  yes,  I  suppose.  But,  Bobby,  I  shouldn't 
have  told  you  that.  What  was  I  thinking  of  to  tell 
you?  You  mustn't  breathe  a  word!  Promise!" 
She  seized  his  arm  in  a  little  fury  of  insistence. 

"  What  do  you  think?  Did  I  breathe  a  word 
230 


MARRYING   OUT   OF   THE  ARMY 

when  you  told  me  how  when  Pudge  fell  upon  his 
knees  at  the  psychological  moment  he  slipped  on 
the  grass  and  slid  all  the  way  down  the  ter- 
race  " 

"  Oh,  Bobby,  that  was  so  wicked  of  me." 

"  Molly,  I  don't  understand  it.  I  mean  we  hate 
to  lose  you.  I  mean "  Bobby  spoke  incoher- 
ently and  almost  angrily.  The  color  was  coming 
and  going  in  his  face.  "  I  thought  that  any  one  of 
the  fellows  in  the  regiment  was  better  than — I  mean 
Fairweather,  Stokes,  and  Pudge — they  worship  the 
ground  you  walk  on." 

"  Oh !  So  I'm  not  to  be  considered  in  the  matter 
of  choosing  my  husband?  " 

"  I  mean,  Molly,  we  don't  want  to  lose  you.  Of 
course,  it's  none  of  our  business.  You  have  been 
so  long  with  the  regiment,  you  see.  I  congratu- 
late you.  You  shall  have  a  wedding  present 
worthy  of  the  daughter  of  the  regiment.  A  great 
present,  Molly — pardon  me  for  a  moment — there's 
Major  Symes — and  I  have  something  to  say  to 
him." 

"  And,  Bobby,  you're  sure  you  won't  tell."  She 
detained  him  a  moment.  "  It  will  be  announced 
regularly,  you  know." 

"  'Pon  honor.  Forget  what  I  said.  You  know 
231 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

that  its  source  is  the  most  thoughtless  and  least 
serious  man  in  the  regiment.  Molly,  it's  quite 
proper.  You're  too  fine  to  waste  your  life  in  a 
garrison  town." 

Bobby  merely  told  Major  Symes  that  the  sunset 
was  unusually  beautiful.  Then  he  went  straight  to 
the  barnlike  building  on  the  Calle  Real,  formerly 
occupied  by  a  Spanish  official,  which  was  his  living 
quarters.  There  the  growing  storm  burst;  there 
came  the  "  tumult  "  and  the  "  awakening  "  which 
Mrs.  Gerlison  had  prophesied. 

"  What  a  girl  like  that  can  see  in  a  man  like 
that !  "  he  exclaimed,  gritting  his  teeth  as  he  peeled 
off  his  blouse  and  threw  it  into  a  corner. 

He  seized  a  foil  and  began  lunging  about  the 
room  as  if  he  were  cutting  his  way  out  of  a  cul-de- 
sac;  and  finally,  in  his  outburst  of  childish  wrath,  he 
thrust  at  the  screen,  which  stood  before  the  door, 
knocking  it  over  and  nearly  precipitating  himself 
as  well  into  the  arms  of  the  Colonel,  who  was  not 
the  man  to  call  frequently  upon  his  subalterns  and 
expected  to  be  received  with  arms  at  attention  in- 
stead of  with  fixed  bayonets. 

"  Damnation !  what  do  you  mean,  sir?  "  he  de- 
manded. 

"  I  was  practising  with  the  foil,  sir,  but  I  assure 
232 


MARRYING   OUT   OF   THE   ARMY 

you  that  I  was  not  thinking  of  you  in  the  light  of 
an  opponent.     Won't  you  come  in?  " 

"  No;  I  merely  stopped  in  passing  to  tell  you 
that  General  MacArthur  has  asked  you  to  come  on 
his  staff.  I  had  even  assured  him  that  you  would 
settle  down." 

"  Exactly  what  I  was  trying  to  do,  sir.  Won't 
you  come  in?  " 

"  No.  Good-evening,  Mr.  Sanderson,"  stamp- 
ing down  the  stairs. 

The  Colonel  had  been  told  of  his  daughter's  in- 
tention that  afternoon.  He  thought  it  meant  the 
consummation  of  all  his  plans.  Yet  he  had  refused 
to  go  riding  because  he  did  not  feel  well  and  had 
taken  a  public  carromata  all  the  way  out  to  Calle 
Real  with  a  weight  upon  his  mind,  whose  bulk  he 
fully  appreciated,  but  whose  nature  he  did  not  un- 
derstand any  more  than  he  could  understand  why 
he  wanted  to  see  and  talk  with  his  Adjutant,  "  the 
most  hare-brained  youngster  in  the  army,"  whom 
he  could  never  rely  upon. 

But  this  incident  quite  decided  him  that  he  was 
tired  of  the  Service.  In  fact,  he  kept  repeating  to 
himself  all  the  way  back  that  he  would  be  supremely 
happy  on  the  retired  list  if  he  were  not  far  away 
from  Molly. 

233 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

"  Well,  my  girl,"  he  told  her  after  he  arrived 
home,  "  it's  better  to  be  a  millionaire's  wife  than  to 
live  on  a  captain's  pay !  I'm  satisfied.  But  I  didn't 
say  a  word  to  influence  you,  did  I?  " 

"  Not  a  word,  Daddy " 

He  started  into  his  own  room,  but  stopped  on  the 
threshold  to  say :  "  And  mind,  Molly,  don't  you 
have  him  if  you  don't  want  to.  Take  your  time, 
Molly.  The  army  has  its  attractions." 

"  You  may  be  very  sure  I  won't,"  replied  Mol- 
ly, who  seemed  very  much  preoccupied.  "  I've 
thought  it  all  over,  Daddy." 

The  old  gentleman  went  "  rummaging  about  "  in 
his  room,  picking  things  up  and  laying  them  down 
absent-mindedly.  He  opened  his  trunk  and  took 
out  of  a  little  case  a  plain  bronze  medal — the  kind 
which  are  not  struck  by  the  bushel.  It  was  from 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States  to  First  Lieu- 
tenant Edward  E.  Sterne  "  for  rescuing  the  colors 
of  his  regiment  from  the  enemy  at  Chancellorsville." 
As  he  fondled  it,  he  said,  confidentially: 

"  I  was  a  good  deal  such  a  colt  as  young  Sander- 
son, myself,  in  those  days." 

To  return  to  Bobby.  After  the  Colonel's  de- 
parture, he  concluded  that  a  shower-bath  would 
bring  him  to  his  senses.  It  merely  hastened  the 

234 


awakening  process.  He  told  the  other  officers  of 
the  mess  that  he  was  going  out  to  dinner,  though 
he  did  not  know  where.  He  passed  across  the 
Luneta  and  down  the  Malecon  at  a  furious  gait. 
Then  he  went  through  the  Walled  City,  past  the 
Bridge  of  Spain  and  across  the  suspension  bridge, 
where  he  unconsciously  turned  his  rapid  strides 
toward  the  street  where  the  Colonel  lived. 

I  can  assure  you  that  he  had  no  intention  of  en- 
tering. He  says,  himself,  that  he  had  not.  But  a 
familiar  voice  from  the  Colonel's  yard  after  he  was 
by  the  gate  called : 

"  Bobby,  do  you  pass  your  friends  without  speak- 
ing?" 

"  No,  never,  Molly.  At  least,  not  when  they 
speak  first."  A  few  steps,  and  he  was  sitting  beside 
her  on  the  bench  in  a  little  arbor. 

"  You're  quite  sure  you  haven't  told  anybody — 
not  even  Mrs.  Gerlison?  " 

Of  all  things  Bobby  did  not  want  to  recur  to  this 
subject.  Yet  he  began  talking  about  it,  and  im- 
mediately, as  he  knew  that  he  would,  began  saying 
things  that  he  ought  not  to  say. 

"  I  hope  you  didn't  misunderstand  me  this  even- 
ing.     I  wanted  to    congratulate  you — I  mean- 
he  began,  "  I  mean  the  regiment  didn't  want  to 

235 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

lose  you.  We  thought  some  fellow  in  the  regi- 
ment eventually  would — why,  every  unmarried 
man  except  Dodge  and  myself " 

His  effort  to  laugh  was  a  tragic  failure. 

"  And  if,"  he  continued,  "  if  I  thought — I'm  go> 
ing  to  say  it  no  matter  if  I  am  ridiculous — if  I 
thought  that  you  would  care  for  such  a  buster  as 
I  am,  why,  Molly,  I  would  go  on  my  knees  with  you 
to  a  chaplain  to-night." 

"  Bobby !  "  She  held  out  both  hands.  "  You 
needn't  do  that,  Bobby.  For  I'll  want  to  lean  on 
your  arm.  Only,  we  will  wait  a  few  days." 

The  manner  of  making  this  contract  was  abrupt; 
but  no  one  shall  gainsay  that  it  was  characteristic; 
or  somewhat  in  keeping  with  the  ways  of  the 
Service. 

When  Mrs.  Gerlison  came  up  to  the  Sternes's 
carriage  on  the  Luneta  she  officially  welcomed 
Molly  back  to  the  Service  and  afterward  whispered 
to  her : 

"  And,  my  dear,  didn't  you  really  know  that  you 
cared  for  him  until  that  evening?  " 

"  Not  a  bit,"  was  the  reply. 

"  How  delightful  it  is  to  be  young,"  Mrs.  Gerli- 
son remarked,  incidentally. 

236 


THE  TAMING  OF  THE 
CAPTAIN 


THE    TAMING   OF  THE   CAPTAIN 

DIDN'T  see  you  on  the  Luneta  this  even- 

J.  ing,"  said  Mrs.  Gerlison  to  Captain  Leeds, 
of  Hospital  Number  i,  as  he  took  a  seat  on  her 
veranda  after  dinner. 

"  No,"  replied  the  weary  giant — a  giant  with  a 
little  blonde  mustache  and  a  very  high  forehead 
— leaning  over  and  twirling  his  cap  around  his 
thumbs. 

"  You  missed  a  beautiful  sunset." 

"  Yes?  " 

"  Grumpy?  " 

"  Yes.     Awfully  grumpy,  Mrs.  Gerlison." 

"  Overworked,  you  mean.  Trying  to  do  two 
days'  work  in  one  in  the  tropics.  When  will  you  get 
your  nose  off  the  grindstone  for  the  one  glorious 
hour  of  the  day  in  Manila?  " 

"  It's  more  restful  to  see  the  sunsets  through  your 
eyes.  I  always  come  to  you.  You  are  the  sov- 
ereign balm  for  blues." 

This  woman  of  forty  was  used  to  such  remarks 
from  this  man  of  twenty-eight. 

239 


THE   WAYS  OF   THE  SERVICE 

"  And  what  is  the  specific  trouble  to-night?  "  she 
asked.  "  Has  the  Patient  and  Well-Abused  One 
been  denying  you  the  zinc  to  make  a  sink  because 
they  didn't  have  zinc  sinks  in  the  Civil  War?  " 

"  No.     It's  another  Florence  Nightingale !  " 

"  Poor  boy  ! "  she  said,  shaking  her  head  dubi- 
ously. 

"  I've  had  clear  boards  for  a  week.  Worked  all 
kinds  of  dodges  to  get  them  transferred  to  the  other 
hospitals — and  here  is  another — specially  asked  to 
come  to  me !  " 

"  Po-or  boy !  "  Mrs.  Gerlison  repeated. 

"  Worse  yet.  She's  the  daughter  of  a  Senator ! 
Think  of  how  she'll  fill  the  malingerers  with  cham- 
pagne, overload  the  stomachs  of  fever  patients,  and 
raise  riot  generally !  " 

"  Po-oor,  po-oor  persecuted  boy!  " 

He  looked  up  into  Mrs.  Gerlison's  eyes,  which 
were  twinkling.  She  was  still  shaking  her  head 
and  her  fan  at  him.  Whereupon,  he  saw  what  he 
had  come  to  Mrs.  Gerlison  to  see:  that  is,  how  ri- 
diculous he  was — and  he  burst  out  laughing. 

"  Didn't  I  say  that  sunsets  were  as  nothing  com- 
pared to  you?"  he  exclaimed.  "I  have  it!"  he 
added.  "  I'll  put  the  Senator's  daughter  in  the 
Light  Diet  Kitchen,  poaching  eggs  and  making 

240 


THE   TAMING   OF   THE   CAPTAIN 

toast — and  she'll  burn  her  fingers  on  that  damnable 
contraption  of  a  stove  which  I  took  by  main  force 
one  night  from  the  Quartermaster's  Department 
when  it  properly  belongs  to  Mrs.  Colonel  Dyer. 
She'd  still  be  looking  for  it,  if  the  Quartermaster,  to 
save  himself,  hadn't  told  her  that  it  slipped  off  a 
casco  into  the  bay  when  it  was  being  unloaded  from 
the  transport.  Yes,  the  Senator's  daughter'll  burn 
her  fingers;  she'll  call  me  a  brutal  military  tyrant, 
and  go  home  to  tell  her  father  all  about  it.  Maybe 
there'll  be  resolutions  in  the  Senate :  '  Whereas, 
the  Senator's  daughter  burned  her  fingers '  " 

"  Now  let  me  preach  just  a  little : 

"  Your  experience  at  Chickamauga  with  the  New 
York  rookies  blinded  you  to  the  merits  of  every- 
thing on  the  earth  but  a  hospital  corps  man  of  three 
years'  training.  We  were  all  volunteers  in  the  be- 
ginning. If  one  is  capable  of  the  good  use  of 
power,  as  I  know  that  you  are,  he  ought  to  plan  to 
attain  power." 

"  Just  as  you  have  done  to  make  yourself  the 
most  influential  woman  in  the  Philippines." 

"  But  I'm  not.  I've  done  no  planning.  I  do  try 
to  be  helpful." 

"  Then  you  fail  to  practise  your  own  theory." 

"  S-s-h !  Didn't  I  tell  you  in  the  beginning  that 
241 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

it  was  a  sermon?  Now  I  fancy  that  you  are  going 
to  find  the  Senator's  daughter  a  lovely  girl  who 
wants  to  do  something  besides  flutter  around  in 
Washington.  If  you  are  nice  to  her  she  certainly 
will  be  less  bothersome  than  if  you  are  not  nice." 

"  I  hope  that  I  shall  always  be  decently  polite  to 
women,  even  to  the  daughter  of  a  Senator  who  gets 
commissions  for  the  worthless  sons  of  his  political 
lieutenants." 

"  S-s-h !  She  won't  keep  at  it  long.  They  never 
do.  In  a  month  they  can  learn  enough  to  last  them 
a  lifetime.  And  if  you  will  simply  behave  she  will 
go  back  to  Washington  and  tell  her  father  what  a 
dear  you  are — and  that  may  mean  promotion." 

"  Never !  never !  She  goes  to  the  Light  Diet 
Kitchen,"  he  said,  merrily,  as  he  rose  to  go. 
"  Thank  you,  O  sovereign  cure  for  the  blues !  " 

"  I  suppose  you  will  forbid  me  coming  over  with 
newspapers  and  talking  with  the  sick  pretty  soon," 
she  called  after  him;  "  and  put  up  a  sign,  '  Ladies 
passing  in  the  street  will  please  cross  themselves  and 
utter  a  prayer  begging  forgiveness  for  the  crime  of 
their  sex.' ' 

"  No,  not  you,  Mrs.  Gerlison.  You  are  always 
welcome.  You  are  a  real  layman — you  don't  try 
to  prescribe  or  be  a  doctor  or  a  nurse  or  something 

242 


THE   TAMING   OF   THE   CAPTAIN 

that  you're  not.  If  a  woman  will  only  come  into 
the  hospital  and  be  a  woman — that's  what  we  want. 
But  they  always  insist  upon  being  either  something 
extremely  tragic  or  else  something  extremely  tech- 
nical and  practical." 

Back  at  his  desk  in  the  hospital,  he  was  the  erect, 
self-possessed,  exacting  officer,  applying  himself 
again  with  energy  after  his  little  recess  from  school 
to  the  care  of  400  sick  men  and  the  training  of  a 
hundred  or  more  recruits  enlisted  in  the  States 
and  dumped  in  Manila  as  so  much  raw  material 
varying  in  flexibility.  Thus  he  worked  far  into  night 
writing,  drawing,  and  planning  in  his  fight  against 
Spanish  filth,  until  weariness  began  to  stale  his 
ideas,  when  he  found  himself  too  nervous  to  sleep 
well. 

He  was  awake  as  soon  as  his  junior  assistants, 
whom  he  drove  to  bed  at  nine,  and,  freshened  by  his 
shower-bath  and  coffee,  he  cheerfully  attacked  the 
problems  of  the  day.  Greater  stimulant  than  these 
— there  was  the  Senator's  daughter!  He  was  in- 
terested, as  he  put  it  in  his  own  mind,  to  see  the 
nose  of  Miss  Dodsworth  go  up  when  he  proposed  a 
course  in  the  Light  Diet  Kitchen  in  the  month  of 
May  in  Manila. 

Now,  Miss  Dodsworth  had  taken  quarters  just 
243 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

across  from  the  hospital  so  as  to  be  near  her  work. 
He  had  not  expected  her  before  nine,  and  she  ar- 
rived before  eight.  She  was  clad  in  a  neat-fitting 
lawn  gown.  At  a  first  glance,  Leeds  could  not  help 
noticing  that  gown,  which  shone  so  by  comparison 
in  a  community  garbed  by  Chinese  tailors.  She 
was  small  of  stature  and  compact,  with  a  rather  pro- 
nounced chin  and  slightly  retrousse  nose — alto- 
gether comely. 

With  a  very-much-at-home  air  she  accepted  the 
Captain's  outstretched  hand  and  sat  down  without 
being  asked. 

"  They  offered  me  my  choice  of  hospitals,"  she 
explained.  "  When  I  found  that  you  had  no  wom- 
an here  I  chose  this  one  at  once,  of  course." 

"  How  good  of  you ! "  he  said,  quite  forgetting 
the  gown. 

"  I  am  ready  for  an  assignment." 

"  You  will  be  of  most  assistance  in  the  Light  Diet 
Kitchen,  now." 

"  What  is  that? — I  mean — of  course,  I  know." 

"  To  poach  eggs  nicely,  make  custards  and  such 
things  for  convalescents  who  can  retain  nothing  else 
on  their  stomachs." 

"  Of  course,"  she  put  in  with  asperity.  "  I  said 
that  I  knew  what  a  Light  Diet  Kitchen  was." 

244 


THE   TAMING   OF   THE   CAPTAIN 

He  picked  up  a  little  system  of  cards. 

"  The  Sergeant  will  explain  these  to  you.  They 
merely  hold  others  accountable  to  you  and  you  ac- 
countable to  others,  so  that  by  reaching  up  to  this 
cabinet  I  can  trace  any  error  to  its  source  and  cor- 
rect it." 

"  What  nonsensical  red  tape !  "  she  exclaimed. 

"  Do  you  take  a  check  for  your  cloak  when  you 
go  to  the  theatre?"  he  asked  abruptly,  as  he  saw 
her  anger  rising  and  began  to  hope  that  she  might 
ask  immediately  to  be  transferred  to  some  other 
hospital. 

"  Yes,  if  I  want  to." 

"  You  do  if  you  leave  it  in  the  cloak-room  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  Strange.     What  is  your  father's  occupation?  " 

"  If  you  wish  to  know  very  much,  he's  a  manu- 
facturer. Why  don't  you  write  it  down  on  your 
cards?  What  has  it  to  do  with  the  hospital?  " 

"  Is  he  bankrupt?  " 

"  No,  he  isn't !  "  As  she  told  a  friend  afterward, 
she  was  "  just  mad  all  through  "  by  this  time. 

"  Then  you  will  find  that  he  has  a  system  of  checks 
and  counterchecks  which  places  responsibility  for 
every  article  coming  in  or  going  out  of  his  factory. 
There  are  people  who  also  think  that  government 

245 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

institutions  should  be  run  on  business  principles. 
As  a  consequence,  I  am  running  this  hospital,  effi- 
ciently, my  superiors  say,  with  one-half  the  force 
used  for  the  same  number  of  patients  at  any  of  the 
great  chaotic  camps  during  the  Spanish  War." 

He  thought  that  he  was  making  himself  very  dis- 
agreeable. 

"Indeed!"  said  Miss  Dodsworth.  "Thank 
you." 

Leeds  wanted  to  say :  "  That  was  a  beautiful  re- 
turn," but  he  only  added,  "  I  have  rung  for  the 
Sergeant,  who  will  be  here  in  a  moment.  Mean- 
while, you  will  pardon  me  if  I  go  over  these  or- 
ders." 

"  Oh,  don't  trouble.  Perhaps  I  might  inquire 
my  way  to  the  Light  Diet  Kitchen  and  save  the 
Sergeant  time.  Do  I  cut  my  own  wood?  " 

'*  You  may  if  you  think  it  will  make  the  eggs  any 
better.  The  eggs  are  the  result  to  be  achieved.  I 
will  leave  the  details  to  you." 

Here  the  Sergeant  appeared.  The  Captain  gave 
him  the  cards  and  instructions. 

"  Good-morning,  Miss  Dodsworth.  I  hope  that 
your  poached  eggs  will  win  the  hearts  of  our 
patients." 

She  turned  to  him  with  a  little  courtesy.  (In  fact, 
246 


THE   TAMING   OF   THE   CAPTAIN 

it  was  a  very  fine  and  challenging  little  courtesy; 
for  she  had  enough  presence  of  mind  not  to  stamp 
her  foot,  though  she  did  thrust  it  forward.) 

"  I  was  told  all  about  you  last  night,"  she  said. 
"  What  you  have  said  this  morning  quite  bears  out 
your  reputation  as  a  military  tyrant.  Probably  you 
think  that  I  can't  poach  eggs.  You  will  find  that  I 
can.  You  will  also  find  that  I  propose  to  stand  on 
my  rights.  I  am  going  to  do  something  besides 
poach  eggs.  I  am  going  to  do  what  I  can  to  lighten 
the  hearts  of  patients  here,  whom  you  regard  as  so 
many  blocks  of  wood." 

The  old  Sergeant's  blue  eyes  twinkled — twinkled 
into  the  Captain's  in  an  understanding  which  is  not 
expressed  in  official  language. 

"  Delightful,  Miss  Dodsworth,"  said  the  Captain. 
"  You  recognize  the  usual  procedure — of  a  declara- 
tion of  war  before  hostilities  begin." 

"Wasn't  she  sassy?"  he  exclaimed  to  himself 
after  she  had  passed  out.  "  But  of  course  the  pretty 
young  thing  can't  poach  eggs." 

The  Sergeant  explained  the  method  of  the  cards, 
which,  after  all,  was  as  simple  as  daylight,  and  in- 
troduced Miss  Dodsworth  to  Biggins,  a  private  of 
the  hospital  corps,  whom  she  was  to  succeed  as 
poacher  of  eggs  and  maker  of  custards. 

247 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

"  The  heat's  something  awful,  miss,"  he  said,  in 
a  tone  of  kindly,  respectful  fellowship,  "  and  if  you 
find  it  too  bad  just  call  on  me  and  I'll  help  you  out. 
The  Captain's  strict  all  right,  you'll  find,  and  he 
doesn't  see  why  others  can't  work  as  hard's  him- 
self." 

"  Yes.  You  poor  men  must  suffer  a  great  deal. 
If  you  have  any  grievances,  come  to  me.  I  am  here 
to  see  justice  done.  I  am  Senator  Dodsworth's 
daughter." 

"  Well,  miss,"  he  said,  coldly,  "  count  me  out  on 
that.  The  Captain's  my  kind  of  an  officer.  It's  be- 
cause of  the  likes  of  him  that  the  regulars  is  always 
fed  and  comf'table  and  know  their  work,  and  the 
volunteers  ain't  and  don't." 

"  So  calloused  to  the  yoke  that  he  likes  it,  poor 
man,"  she  thought. 

Biggins  hurried  across  the  court  to  catch  up  with 
the  Sergeant,  to  whom,  in  justice  to  his  Captain,  he 
reported  all  that  Miss  Dodsworth  had  said. 

"  She's  goin'  to  get  up  some  row  in  the  papers," 
Biggins  concluded,  weightily.  "  That's  what  she's 
goin'  to  do,  and  I  thought  you  ought  to  be 
warned." 

"All  right,  Biggins,"  the  Sergeant  said.  "I 
ain't  going  to  tell  the  Captain  yet.  He's  got  enough 

248 


THE   TAMING   OF   THE   CAPTAIN 

to  worry  about.  I'll  just  keep  an  eye  on  her,  my- 
self. Mebbe  I'll  have  to  train  the  Senator's  daugh- 
ter a  little." 

At  this  stage  of  the  world's  progress,  Miss  Dods- 
worth  was  sucking  a  blistered  finger,  but  in  nowise 
shaken  in  her  determination  to  show  the  Captain 
that  she  could  poach  eggs.  In  place  of  a  gauntlet 
she  sent  him  for  tiffin  two  which  rested  as  lightly 
upon  their  bed  of  toast  as  two  lotus  flowers. 

As  she  was  leaving  the  hospital  in  the  evening 
the  Captain  was  entering  his  office.  He  lifted  his 
cap. 

"  Your  eggs  were  delicious,  Miss  Dodsworth," 
he  said. 

She  made  a  salute  of  mock  humility. 

"  I  hope  that  any  amiability  which  you  may  have 
absorbed  from  them  may  be  bestowed  on  your 
patients,"  she  replied,  and  started  on. 

He  arrested  her  with  a  gesture  and  the  impulse 
of  parrying  the  thrust. 

"  How  did  you  account  for  the  two  eggs  on  the 
cards?  " 

"  I  wrote,  '  Two  eggs  for  the  Pooh  Bah.' ' 

"  That  will  never  do  " — and  he  preserved  a  sol- 
emn countenance.  "  The  commissioned  officers' 
mess  is  quite  separate.  It  is  robbing  the  men.  I 

249 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

will  send  two  eggs  to  the  storeroom  and  we  can 
tear  up  the  card." 

"  Thank  you,"  she  replied;  and  passed  on. 

After  he  had  told  Mrs.  Gerlison  everything, 
Mrs.  Gerlison  did  not  surprise  him  by  quietly  re- 
marking that  she  had  heard  both  sides  of  the 
controversy. 

"  Yes.  I  met  her  this  evening  on  the  Luneta," 
she  said.  "  She's  a  spirited  girl.  What  do  you 
think  she  called  you?  The  Duke  of  Alva." 

"  Ripping !  ripping !  "  He  hugged  his  knee  and 
rocked  his  body  back  and  forth.  "  Go  on.  Tell 
me  s'more ! " 

"  To  be  exact,  she  said  that  you  were  an  unbend- 
ing, heartless  brute,  who  could  vivisect  a  fawn  while 
looking  into  its  weeping  eyes  and  incidentally  cuff 
it  for  being  so  demonstrative." 

"  Lovely !     What  did  you  tell  her?  " 

"  That  if  she  could  see  the  way  you  slouch  on  my 
porch  sometimes  she  wouldn't  think  you  unbend- 
ing. I  spoke  of  your  distinguished  conduct  on  the 
night  of  the  outbreak  and  tried  generally  to  im- 
prove her  opinion  of  you." 

"  The  deuce  you  did !  Why,  you'll  spoil  all  the 
fun." 

"  Oh,  no,  I  won't.  The  young  lady  merely  said 
250 


THE   TAMING   OF   THE   CAPTAIN 

that  she  knew  of  course  the  regulars  all  held  to- 
gether." 

"Good!" 

"  And  now,  boy,  I  want  to  tell  you  again  that 
you're  making  a  mistake.  The  girl  is  matching  her 
power — the  power  of  her  father  and  her  friends — 
against  you,  and  they  can  make  you  trouble.  Please, 
boy,  do  be  sensible." 

"  They  might  take  my  hospital  away  from  me ! 
They  might  Dreyfus  me — but  not  my  commission ! 
For  that  we  go  back  to  the  people.  But  don't  put 
it  in  that  light  or  you'll  spoil  all  the  fun,  I  say." 

"  She's  so  angry  with  you — you  know  the  insidi- 
ous effect  of  the  climate — she  may  work  herself 
ill." 

"  I'll  trust  a  Senator's  daughter  not  to  do  that. 
You'll  see.  She'll  soon  be  leaving  the  eggs  and  the 
custards  to  Biggins." 

His  prophecy  was  fulfilled  the  next  day,  when 
Miss  Dodsworth  divided  her  time  between  the  Light 
Diet  Kitchen  and  the  wards  in  pursuit  of  her  in- 
tention to  make  a  thorough  investigation  of  con- 
ditions at  the  hospital.  In  Ward  Number  2  her 
sympathy  was  immediately  drawn  to  Pike,  who,  if  he 
had  been  at  Montauk  in  the  lugubrious  days,  could 
have  shed  hot  tears  at  the  approach  of  every  Lady 

251 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

Bountiful.  At  Manila  he  was  in  poor  pickings;  but 
his  hopes  brightened  the  minute  that  he  saw  Miss 
Dodsworth,  knowing  intuitively  that  she  was  his 
kind.  With  a  feeling  of  pride  in  his  superiority,  he 
watched  the  other  fellows  along  the  line  fumbling 
their  "  graft." 

"  It's  so  seldom  we  sees  women  here,"  he  told  the 
Senator's  daughter,  "  that  I  had  to  rub  my  eyes, 
miss,  to  make  sure  you  wasn't  an  angel." 

"  How  long  have  you  been  in  the  hospital,  poor 
fellow?  "  she  asked. 

"  A  month  now,"  he  said.  "  Oh,  I'll  never  be 
fit  to  go  back  to  duty.  It's  the  climate  and  me 
knee.  I'm  goin'  all  to  pieces.  Me  knee  was  in- 
jured in  a  charge,  and  it's  like  boils.  Never  teched 
foot  to  ground  since.  The  doctors  can't  do  nawthin' 
for  it  and  say  I'm  shammin'." 

"  What  doctors?  " 

"  The  Captain,  and  all  of  'em.  Yes,  sha-a-min' ! 
Me  what  hates  being  shut  up  in  the  house  and  loves 
to  be  out  fightin'.  I  get  weaker  'n'  weaker,  and 
I'll  jest  keep  gettin'  weaker  'n'  weaker  and  the  doc- 
tors'll  keep  me  here!  Oh,  if  I  could  only  die  at 
home,  miss ! " 

The  clear-eyed  young  soldier  with  a  bandage  on 
his  shoulder  partially  rose  from  the  next  cot  and 

252 


THE   TAMING   OF   THE  CAPTAIN 

grinned.  Miss  Dodsworth  was  too  absorbed  to 
notice  him. 

"  You  shall — you  shall  live  at  home !  "  she  ex- 
claimed. She  had  searched  for  treasure  and  had  at 
last  found  it.  "  Meanwhile,  cheer  up,  poor  fellow. 
I  can  see  how  weak  you  are.  You  shall  have  a  little 
champagne.  I  know  that  that  is  strengthening." 

"  Oh,  I  dunno,  I  dunno,"  said  the  man  in  the  next 
cot,  in  an  undertone;  "  I  dunno  but  I  need  sym- 
pathy, myself." 

The  Sergeant  entered  from  the  opposite  end  of 
the  ward  just  as  Miss  Dodsworth  was  leaving  at  the 
other.  He  saw  that  the  men  around  Pike  were 
grinning  and  smelled  mice  at  once.  When  he 
spoke  to  Pike,  the  malingerer  assured  the  Sergeant 
that  he  had  said  "  scurcely  "  a  word  to  the  lady. 
He  then  went  to  Miss  Dodsworth,  who  was  in  a 
high  state  of  indignation. 

"  Miss,  if  you  don't  mind,  I'd  like  to  warn  you 
against  that  man,  Pike,"  he  said.  "  He's  a  hobo 
that  sneaked  into  the  army  under  the  bars — and 
they  sometimes  will,  do  the  best  you  can." 

"  How  do  you  know  that  he  is?  "  she  demanded, 
with  the  flashing  eyes  of  an  agitator  hewing  her 
way  through  injustice  with  broadsword  blows. 

"  He  funked  and  lay  down  behind  a  dike  in  his 
253 


THE   WAYS   OF  THE   SERVICE 

first  scrap  and  claimed  that  his  knee  was  hurt.  Been 
so  sore  he  couldn't  touch  his  foot  to  the  ground  ever 
since  when  the  doctors  was  about.  Miss,  he's  a 
malingerer." 

"  How  do  you  know  he  is?  " 

"  Personal  investigation,  miss.  I  stayed  up  one 
night  just  to  satisfy  myself.  If  you  touch  his  knee 
when  he's  awake  he  yells  bloody  murder  and  he's 
always  got  his  leg  bent.  When  he  was  asleep  that 
leg  was  stretched  out  straight  and  I  felt  all  around 
his  knee-cap  without  waking  him." 

"  Did  the  Captain  tell  you  to  tell  me  all  this?  " 

"  No,  miss.  He  don't  delegate  his  talkin'.  He's 
pretty  well  able  to  do  it  himself." 

"  Yes.  You  just  carry  out  the  brutalities  that  he 
doesn't  care  to  carry  out  in  person.  Because  you've 
got  a  stripe  on  your  arm  and  get  a  few  dollars  a 
month  more  than  the  other  men  you  can  tyran- 
nize over  them  like  a  plantation  overseer  in  slave 
times ! " 

This  brought  the  color  to  the  Sergeant's  cheeks. 
He  was  still  in  the  Service  at  his  age  for  the  love  of 
it,  and  at  one-third  of  the  pay  that  he  could  get  in 
civil  life. 

"  Miss,  you  can  call  me  any  kind  of  brute  you 
want  to,  but  when  it  comes  to  the  Captain  I'm  bound 

254 


THE   TAMING   OF   THE   CAPTAIN 

to  speak  up.  Brute  is  it  ?  I've  known  him  to  walk 
when  he  was  sicker'n  his  horse.  I've  seen  him 
sleep  cold  and  give  his  blanket  to  one  of  his  men. 
But  he  didn't  say  it  loud  enough  for  the  whole  camp 
to  hear :  '  Here  you  are,  old  man,  take  my  blanket ! ' 
He  didn't  get  his  name  in  the  papers.  He  just  said : 
'  Biggins,  take  this  blanket.'  That's  his  way.  He 
was  born  to  it.  And  I'm  thinking  it's  a  good  thing 
some  of  us  was  born  to  it  or  there'd  be  no  order." 

Having  delivered  himself  of  this  little  lecture,  the 
Sergeant  pointed  straight  for  the  Captain's  office, 
where  it  happened  that  that  very  brutal  officer  was 
in  the  midst  of  a  letter,  making  still  another  attempt 
to  get  two  brave  men,  whose  lives  he  knew  depended 
upon  it,  started  for  home  on  the  next  transport. 

"  Pike's  been  filling  Miss  Dodsworth  up  with  guff 
and  she  takes  his  part,"  he  reported.  "  She  called 
me  a  brute  and  wouldn't  listen  to  my  advice.  I 
overheard  her  say  she  was  going  to  give  him  cham- 
pagne." 

"  Supposing  she  did  give  him  champagne?  " 

"  Too  much  vino's  the  seat  of  his  trouble  anyway. 
'Twould  set  him  off." 

"  And  maybe  he  would  forget  that  sick  leg  and 
we  should  have  indisputable  evidence  of  his  sham- 
ming? " 

255 


THE   WAYS   OF  THE   SERVICE 

"  Mebbe.     Yes,  sir." 

"  Well,  let  the  matter  stand." 

Then  the  Captain  picked  up  a  duplicating  pad 
and  sent  this  note  marked  "  copy  "  to  Miss  Dods- 
worth: 

"  Pike  is  suffering  from  alcoholism  and,  I  am 
convinced,  is  a  malingerer.  Sympathy  shown  to 
him  will  be  derogatory  to  discipline.  I  trust  that 
you  will  realize  the  bad  effect  of  questioning  the 
Sergeant's  authority  before  the  men." 

It  merely  increased  the  receiver's  vexation.  In- 
stead of  going  to  the  Luneta  before  dinner  she  went 
to  the  Commissary.  As  there  were  no  pint  bottles 
in  stock  she  got  a  quart  bottle  of  champagne.  When 
she  gave  a  glass  to  Pike  he  said  it  was  life  to  him, 
only  he  was  so  weak  that  it  had  little  effect.  Event- 
ually, he  wheedled  three  glasses  out  of  her. 

"  I'll  come  to  see  you  the  first  thing  in  the  morn- 
ing," she  said.  "  Be  of  good  heart.  I'm  going  to 
see  the  General  about  your  case  myself." 

If  she  could  have  seen  how  ravenously  his  eye  fol- 
lowed the  bottle  as  she  took  it  out  of  the  ward  it 
would  not  have  prepared  her,  but  it  would  certainly 
have  prepared  the  Sergeant,  for  what  followed.  At 
one  o'clock  in  the  morning  she  was  awakened  by  a 
noise  at  her  window.  She  sprang  up  and  looked  to 

256 


THE   TAMING   OF   THE   CAPTAIN 

see,  ghoulish  in  expression  by  the  light  of  the  match 
she  had  just  struck,  Pike's  face. 

"  Come  to  get  the  rest  of  that  champagne,  my 
angel,"  he  said,  in  a  maudlin  voice. 

The  idea  of  calling  upon  her  had  not  occurred  to 
him  until  after  crawling  under  cover  of  the  shadows, 
to  avoid  the  sentries,  to  the  officers'  kitchen,  he  had 
re-enforced  his  imagination  with  a  pint  of  sherry. 

Miss  Dodsworth,  who  was  alone  in  her  quarters, 
called  to  him  hysterically  to  leave  her  window.  By 
way  of  reply  he  began  to  crawl  in.  She  ran  to  the 
door  and  out  of  it,  not  knowing  where  she  should  go 
to  escape  from  this  beast  at  that  hour  when  the 
streets  were  deserted,  until  she  saw  that  there  was 
still  a  light  in  the  office  of  the  bloody  military  tyrant 
who  held  sway  over  Military  Hospital  Number  i. 

He  was  interrupted  in  writing  a  report  by  the 
appearance  of  a  young  woman  in  pajamas  and  a 
state  of  terror,  who  cried,  "  Pike  is  in  my  room ! " 
and  then  slipped  behind  a  screen. 

He  met  Pike  (who  had  followed  Miss  Dodsworth) 
almost  at  the  threshold.  At  the  sight  of  the  Cap- 
tain, the  malingerer  lifted  his  foot  from  the  ground 
and  moaned :  "  The  pain  in  me  knee  must  'a'  driv' 
me  mad ! " 

"Go  into  the  Sergeant's  office!  You  are  under 
257 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE  SERVICE 

arrest,"  Leeds  told  him.  "  And  you  might  as  well 
walk  on  both  feet  again." 

"  Yes,  I  guess  I've  worked  that  graft  out,  all 
right,"  Pike  replied,  as  he  obeyed. 

"  Now,  Miss  Dodsworth,"  the  Captain  called, 
"  you  may  return  to  your  room.  I  regret  that  my 
sentries  are  so  inefficient  that  any  patient  should 
leave  the  hospital  without  detection." 

He  turned  his  back  to  the  door  and  waited  until 
the  pat  of  small  feet  unmistakably  bare  passed  out 
of  hearing  on  the  other  side  of  the  street. 

It  was  late  when  Miss  Dodsworth  entered  the 
hospital  next  morning.  Leeds  was  just  returning 
from  inspection,  his  sword,  unbuckled  as  soon  as  the 
function  was  over,  in  his  hand. 

"  I  came  to  thank  you  for  last  night,"  she  said, 
"  and  to  surrender." 

"  And  with  all  the  honors  of  war,"  he  replied,  "  if 
you  will  accept  my  apologies." 


258 


II 

Miss  Dodsworth  made  custards  until  luncheon, 
but  she  did  not  appear  at  the  hospital  in  the  after- 
noon. The  next  morning  Leeds  received  a  note 
from  her  saying  that  she  was  not  well  and  that  she 
had  decided  to  give  up  the  work. 

"  I  can  poach  eggs  just  as  skilfully  as  Biggins," 
she  added,  "  only  I'm  afraid  I  never  can  stand  the 
heat  as  he  does.  I  take  this  opportunity  to  confess 
that  I  spoke  disparagingly  of  you  to  him  and  to  the 
Sergeant.  That  was  unwarranted.  I  made  it  a 
point  to  tell  them  so  yesterday.  You  are,  no  doubt, 
a  very  efficient  officer." 

Leeds  chuckled  as  he  read. 

"  Though  she  looks  down  from  a  high  place,  she 
is  bound  to  be  just,  at  any  rate,"  he  thought. 

Suddenly  he  became  serious. 

"  I  wonder  if  I  had  anything  to  do  with  making 
her  ill !  "  he  exclaimed. 

At  heart,  he  was  ever  all  kindness  and  gentle- 
ness. He  saw  the  part  that  he  had  played  in  the  last 
two  days  in  a  new  light.  Looking  at  the  matter 

259 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

from  her  side,  he  understood  how  she  might  well 
have  considered  him  a  brute. 

When  he  replied,  expressing  regret  that  she  was 
not  to  remain  in  the  hospital,  he  was  intensely  in 
earnest.  He  closed  the  note  with  what  (so  he  con- 
cluded twenty-four  hours  later)  was  the  most 
awkward  thing  he  had  ever  written : 

"  I'm  afraid  that  my  enjoyment  of  combat  car- 
ried the  thing  too  far.  I  thought  you  enjoyed  it, 
too.  Really,  I  am  not  a  blood-thirsty  monster;  and, 
really,  I  have  some  manners.  If  I  might  have  the 
chance,  now,  I  would  show  you  that  I  have.  I  hope 
your  indisposition  will  be  slight.  My  great  fear  is 
that  I  am  to  blame  for  it." 

She  replied: 

"  Of  course,  I  know  you  have  manners.  Of 
course,  I  enjoyed  them.  I  have  told  you  that  I  con- 
sider you  an  efficient  officer.  If  my  testimonial  to 
your  superior  officer  is  of  any  use,  say  so,  and  I  will 
write  it;  also,  one  for  the  Sergeant.  I  now  realize 
that  it  is  superficial  judgment  which  considers  self- 
importance  as  a  sure  sign  of  inefficiency." 

Clearly,  Miss  Dodsworth,  in  closing  the  incident, 
had  scored  again.  Leeds  felt  extremely  "  mean,"  at 
the  same  time  that  he  was  conscious  of  increased 
admiration  for  her.  He  had  the  satisfaction,  at 

260 


THE   TAMING   OF   THE   CAPTAIN 

least,  that  he  had  done  everything  decency  might 
require  when  she  flew  to  him  as  a  refuge  from 
Pike.  That  evening  he  went  to  Mrs.  Gerlison  to 
find  out  if  her  illness  was  serious  or  trifling  (as  he 
had  supposed).  Now  that  he  was  interested  in  her, 
he  proceeded  to  show,  in  the  plainest  way,  that  he 
was  by  not  coming  directly  to  the  point. 

"  I  suppose  you've  heard  that  my  Florence 
Nightingale  has  departed,"  he  said,  nonchalantly. 

"  Yes.  I  wonder  you're  not  a  wreath  of  smiles. 
Has  another  come  to  take  her  place?  " 

"  No,  and  no  news  of  any." 

"  You  say  it  as  if  you  were  disappointed." 

"  Well,  you  see  I've  no  one  to  entertain  me,  now. 
Miss  Dodsworth  was  rather  clever.  Did  she  say 
anything  about  Pike  calling  on  her  at  one  o'clock  in 
the  morning?  " 

"  No.    I  haven't  heard  any  gossip  from  her." 

He  related  the  story. 

"  Naturally,  she  wouldn't  tell  an  experience 
like  that.  I  don't  know  of  any  woman  that 
would." 

Leeds  now  felt  as  if  he  had  been  caught  red- 
handed  in  a  crime. 

"  Of  course,  of  course,"  he  said,  moodily.  "  Mrs. 
Gerlison,  I'm  afraid  that  hospital  work  is  about  all 

261 


THE   WAYS  OF  THE   SERVICE 

I  am  efficient  in.  I  know  you  won't  repeat  the 
story,  will  you?  And  I'll  speak  to  the  Sergeant." 

"  You  grow  wise.  I  have  always  said  that  you 
were  capable  of  learning,  boy." 

"  Do  you  know? — she  isn't  seriously  ill,  is  she?  " 

"  Yes,  I  think  she  is.  She  took  to  her  bed  in  a 
high  fever  this  afternoon.  If  she  isn't  better  in  the 
morning,  she's  to  be  brought  here.  The  doctor 
fears  that  she  is  in  for  a  bad  time  of  it." 

"  Who?    What  doctor?  "  he  asked,  quickly. 

"  Linwood.  Have  you  any  objection  to  him?  " 
she  asked,  puckering  her  brows. 

It  seemed  to  Leeds  that  she  had  been  unusually 
cold  from  the  first,  that  evening. 

"  Oh,  no,"  he  said.  "  But  she  ought  to  go  to  a 
hospital.  She  would  get  better  care  there." 

"  Thank  you.  To  what  hospital?  Yours?  To 
your  Light  Diet  Kitchen?  " 

Her  sarcasm  put  his  conscience  upon  a  bed  of 
coals. 

"  Then  you  think  that  I  am  responsible  for  her 
illness?" 

"  I  have  not  said  that,"  she  replied.  "  What  do 
you  think?  " 

"  But  she  was  not  in  the  Light  Diet  Kitchen  five 
hours  altogether.  I  made  no  objection  when  she 

262 


THE   TAMING   OF   THE   CAPTAIN 

left  it  to  visit  the  men.  I  couldn't  help  it  because 
Pike  got  away  and  followed  her.  I  warned  her  not 
to  give  him  champagne.  If  she  hadn't,  he  wouldn't 
have  got  out  of  hand." 

"  Oh,  officially,  you  are  quite  correct.  You  al- 
ways are." 

"  But,"  he  fairly  pleaded,  "  I'm  not  so  terribly- 
well,  incorrect — that's  your  word — anyway.  I 
mean,  I'm  not  responsible." 

"  I  have  just  said  that  you  weren't." 

"  But  you  said  it  in  a  way  that  implied  other- 
wise." 

"  I  did!  Then  you  think  that  I'm  incapable  of  ex- 
pressing clearly  what  I  mean?  " 

"  No.  I  think  that  you  have  more  ways  of  inti- 
mating what  you  mean  than  any  woman  I  have  ever 
known.  How  am  I  responsible?  " 

"  There  are  times  when,  if  a  person  does  not 
know,  there  is  no  need  of  telling  him.  This  is 
one.  You  must  see  for  yourself  or  remain  in 
ignorance." 

"  You  are  not  amiable  this  evening.  I  think  I 
had  better  be  going." 

He  stopped  halfway  down  the  walk  and  called 
back: 

"  Promise  me  that  you  won't  tell  her  that  I  told 
263 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

you  about  her  experience  with  Pike!     It  might 
worry  her — have  a  bad  effect." 

"  Oh,  no,"  she  replied.  "  The  doctor  says  she 
must  not  be  irritated.  I'm  not  likely  to  mention  you" 

He  pondered  on  what  Mrs.  Gerlison  had  meant 
until  he  thought  that  he  had  reached  a  solution. 
He  had  unnecessarily  tantalized  Miss  Dodsworth; 
she  had  wrought  herself  to  too  high  a  pitch  in  com- 
bating him.  He  began  to  appreciate  more  fully  the 
shock  to  her  of  being  driven  out  of  her  room  by 
Pike  and  the  humiliation  of  having  to  flee,  in  night 
attire,  to  the  arms  of  her  arch  enemy.  He  had  been 
official,  but  unmanly  and  unappreciative  of  a 
woman's  fine  sense  of  pride  or  her  delicate  constitu- 
tion. If  he  had  been  sitting  on  a  Board  for  the 
consideration  of  his  own  case  he  would  have  dis- 
missed himself  from  the  Service  for  "  conduct  un- 
becoming an  officer  and  a  gentleman." 

He  learned  from  other  sources,  the  next  day,  that 
Miss  Dodsworth  had  been  taken  to  Mrs.  Gerlison's. 
Before  dinner,  he  walked  out  to  the  Luneta.  Mrs. 
Gerlison  was  not  there.  Her  absence  suggested 
that  the  patient  must  be  worse.  After  dinner,  he 
went  to  her  house,  where  he  found  her  on  the 
veranda.  As  soon  as  she  saw  him  she  started  down 
the  walk  to  meet  him. 

264 


THE   TAMING   OF   THE   CAPTAIN 

"  My  patient's  asleep,  and  if  we  talked  it  would 
disturb  her,  especially,  if  she  knew  that  it  was  you 
who — "  she  seemed  to  check  herself  in  the  middle 
of  an  indiscreet  sentence.  "  So  we'll  walk  back  and 
forth  for  exercise  in  place  of  my  usual  outing  on  the 
Luneta,  if  you  don't  mind." 

"  Is  she  really  very  ill?  "  he  demanded. 

''  Yes.  Linwood  says  that  the  crisis  won't  come 
for  two  or  three  days." 

He  started  a  flood  of  professional  questions. 

"  You  must  ask  Linwood,"  she  said.  "  He  is 
official,  you  see." 

"  What  does  she  say?  Does  she  think  that  I'm 
responsible?  " 

"  I  haven't  heard  her  mention  your  name." 

"  Well,  I've  thought  over  what  you  said  last 
night,  and  I  feel  that  I  am,  in  a  sense,  to  blame." 

"  Yes?  Well,  let  us  hope  that  she  will  soon  be 
better.  You  didn't  go  to  the  Luneta  this  evening?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  You  did !  What  could  have  taken  you  away 
from  the  shop?  " 

"  Why — I — I  went  to  see  if  you  were  there — to 
ask  about  her." 

"  Oh !  I  hope  you  did  not  suffer  too  much  from 
the  relaxation." 

265 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

For  the  next  week,  while  Leeds  still  attended 
strictly  to  his  duties  his  thoughts  were  upon  an  ex- 
traneous subject.  Finding  little  that  was  definite 
and  all  that  was  ominous  and  exasperating  in  the 
replies  of  Mrs.  Gerlison,  who  was  worn  with  nursing, 
to  his  questions,  he  went  to  Linwood  for  informa- 
tion. Linwood  said  that  Miss  Dodsworth's  life,  in 
a  crisis,  hung  by  a  thread.  Leeds  felt  the  more 
helpless  because  he  had  to  remain  inactive,  and  to 
conceal  his  belief  that  Linwood  was  not  doing  all 
that  might  be  done.  When  he  asked  Linwood  to 
send  him  a  note  twice  a  day  as  to  her  condition,  Lin- 
wood showed  by  his  smile  that  he  smelled  a  mouse. 
This  sunk  Leeds  deeper  in  trouble.  He  feared  that 
the  Luneta  soon  would  be  linking  two  names  to- 
gether in  a  new  theme  of  gossip.  But  to  protest  or 
attempt  to  explain  to  Linwood  would  only  make 
matters  worse. 

Miss  Dodsworth  survived;  and  her  recovery  was 
rapid.  During  her  convalescence  Leeds  called  in 
every  expert  in  the  city  to  make  ice-cream;  he  sent 
her  California  oranges,  Anam  mangosteens,  and 
flowers.  Meanwhile,  Mrs.  Gerlison  had  as  good  as 
forbidden  him  her  house.  She  always  met  him  gin- 
gerly with  a  bulletin  at  the  edge  of  the  veranda.  So 
he  came  to  send  his  delicacies  (with  his  card  at- 

266 


THE   TAMING   OF   THE   CAPTAIN 

tached)  by  messenger  rather  than  deliver  them  in 
person ;  and  he  looked  in  vain  for  any  thanks  or  ac- 
knowledgment. 

When  he  heard  that  Miss  Dodsworth  was  so 
much  better  that  she  had  been  driving  with  Mrs. 
Gerlison  on  the  Luneta,  he  was  among  the  first  to 
arrive  there  on  the  next  evening.  Miss  Dodsworth, 
thin  and  pale,  was  with  Mrs.  Gerlison  again.  Leeds 
summoned  his  courage,  and  approached  the  car- 
riage; but  Mrs.  Gerlison  only  bowed  as  she  drove 
away.  After  dinner,  he  went  to  her  home.  This 
time,  she  allowed  him  on  the  veranda. 

"  For  such  old  friends  as  we  are,"  he  said,  "  I 
thought  you  were  somewhat  unkind  not  to  let  me 
speak  to  you  this  evening." 

"  Oh,  if  I  had  been  alone  it  would  have  been  dif- 
ferent," she  replied. 

"  But  I  want  to  see  Miss  Dodsworth.  I  must — 
I  will — apologize  to  her.  I  thought  that  the  fruit 
and  other  things  would  open  the  way — would  let 
her  know — that  I  realized  that  I  had  been  rude 
and  brutal.  You  told  her  that  it  was  I  who  sent 
them?" 

"  Why — you  wanted  them  to  assist  her  convales- 
cence, didn't  you?  " 

"  Yes,  above  all  things." 
267 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

"  Well,  then,  should  I  have  mentioned  you?  " 

"  Did  you  take  off  the  cards?  " 

"  No,  I  don't  think  I  did.  Why  should  you  put 
cards  on  them?  " 

"  Mrs.  Gerlison,  you're  making  me  out  a  fiend. 
I  know  I  treated  her  as  if  she  was  an  unwelcome  ad- 
dition to  the  H.  C.  I  know  that  the  test  is  that  a 
man  should  always  be  nice  to  women,  regardless  of 
circumstances.  But  I  do  know,  too,  that  if  she  had 
been  a  girl  of  no  position  I  should  have  been  more 
considerate.  Being  a  Senator's  daughter — why,  you 
told  me  to  bear  her  influence  in  mind — well,  at  any 
rate,  I  didn't  try  to  curry  her  favor  because  of  her 
father's  power.  I  want  to  speak  to  her;  to  tell  her 
how  I  feel." 

There  was  a  rustle  of  skirts,  and  Miss  Dodsworth 
herself  appeared  in  the  doorway. 

"  Mrs.  Gerlison,  I  could  not  help  listening.  As 
much  as  I  love  you,"  she  said,  "  I  must  say  that  I 
have  given  you  no  authority  to  talk  in  this  way. 
Captain  Leeds,  I  knew  that  you  sent  the  fruits,  and 
I  thank  you  for  them.  You  did  save  me  from  that 
ruffian  Pike  and  from  my  own  folly.  And  you 
must  not  forget  that  I  called  you  a  military  ty- 
rant and  threw  down  the  gauntlet  in  our  first 
interview." 

268 


THE   TAMING   OF   THE   CAPTAIN 

When  a  certain  engagement  was  announced  a 
week  later,  Mrs.  Gerlison  said  to  Captain  Leeds: 

"  I  always  thought  that  you  ought  to  marry — and 
you  weren't  so  very  hard  to  tame!" 

Then  he  forgave  her. 


269 


MRS.  GERLISON'S  OWN 
STORY 


MRS.    GERLISON'S    OWN    STORY 


IN  the  late  seventies,  when  an  American  man-of- 
war  approached  a  European  harbor,  the  lookout 
was  quite  justified  in  remarking  that  she  must  be 
American  because  her  pattern  was  too  old  to  be 
Greek  or  Turkish.  But  our  personnel,  if  not  our 
ships,  was  worthy  of  our  pride.  The  commanders 
were  veterans  who  had  smelt  powder  in  the  first 
shock  of  ironclads  driven  by  steam,  while  officers  of 
some  nations  that  I  might  mention  were  sipping 
their  chocolate  in  cafes  and  training  their  mus- 
taches. Associated  with  them  were  the  graduates 
of  Annapolis  since  the  great  war,  who,  as  their  elders 
pass  the  age  limit,  are  becoming  the  masters  of  our 
fighting-machines  of  to-day. 

This  story  has  to  do  with  one  of  these  youngsters, 
Lieutenant  Arthur  Barnes,  who  becomes  interest- 
ing on  the  afternoon  of  January  15,  1877,  when  he 
went  ashore  with  two  other  officers  at  Naples.  He 
tried  to  persuade  them  to  accompany  him  to  Pom- 

273 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

peii.  They  had  already  been  there;  and  once  a 
cruise  was  enough,  they  said.  So  he  went  alone 
in  a  public  carriage. 

He  had  barely  alighted  when  he  heard  the  sound 
of  galloping  horses  and  the  cries  of  the  attendants 
of  the  little  inn  near  the  gate  to  the  ruins.  He 
looked  up  the  road  to  see  a  team,  out  of  the  driver's 
control,  approaching.  His  guide  was  yelling  "  Stop ! 
Stop ! "  alternately  in  three  languages,  while  the 
waiters,  running  out,  excitedly  waved  their  towels 
and  aprons. 

Barnes  hastened  to  the  side  of  the  road  away 
from  the  cafe.  As  the  frightened  ponies  turned  to 
avoid  the  group  that  sought  to  bar  their  progress, 
the  Lieutenant,  seizing  the  reins  of  the  one  nearest 
to  him,  was  able  to  bring  them  to  a  standstill.  The 
carriage  slewed  and  upset  in  the  gutter,  throwing 
out  its  occupants,  who  were  a  girl  of  twenty  and  a 
middle-aged  woman.  The  girl  was  on  her  feet  be- 
fore Barnes  reached  her  side. 

"  That's  the  first  time  I  ever  knew  that  a  Neapoli- 
tan pony  had  sufficient  force  of  character  to  run 
away !  "  she  exclaimed. 

By  her  voice  she  was  an  American;  and  when  a 
young  woman  makes  so  cool  a  remark  as  that  un- 
der such  circumstances  she  is  bound  to  excite  the 

274 


MRS.   GERLISON'S   OWN   STORY 

interest  of  any  young  unmarried  naval  officer.  She 
put  out  her  hand  at  the  same  time  as  Barnes  to 
assist  her  companion  to  arise. 

"  I  am  so  glad  I  was  on  that  side.  I  acted  as  a 
buffer  for  you,"  she  said  to  the  elder  lady,  who 
groaned.  "  You  aren't  hurt,  mother?  You  haven't 
broken  a  bone?  Do  you  feel  any  pain?  "  the  young 
woman  inquired  anxiously,  as  she  arranged  the  ma- 
ternal bonnet  and  brushed  the  dust  off  the  maternal 
gown. 

"  No,  I'm  not  hurt,  if  you  only  give  me  time  to 
get  my  breath  and  realize  that  I  haven't  been 
killed,"  was  the  reply. 

"  After  all,  the  shaking  up  may  be  for  the  best," 
added  the  other,  soothingly.  "  I  have  felt  all  the 
way  out  that  some  violent  means  was  needed  to  deal 
with  the  luncheon  we  had  at  the  hotel." 

When  the  mother  was  seated  in  the  shade  and 
had  drunk  some  cognac  and  water,  she  recovered  a 
composure  of  the  rigid  kind  then  in  fashion  in  Bos- 
ton. The  daughter  had  her  slim,  tall  figure,  only  it 
was  supple,  while  the  black  hair  must  have  come 
from  the  paternal  side.  There  was  now  a  flush  on 
the  young  woman's  cheeks  which  heightened  her 
charm.  The  sparkle  of  her  eyes  spoke  of  a  great 
fund  of  reserve  energy  and  good-nature. 

275 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

Barnes  gave  his  card  to  them.  The  mother  hav- 
ing focussed  her  vision  on  the  letters  U.  S.  N., 
through  her  eyeglasses,  was  reassured  a  little.  At 
least,  she  thought,  she  was  not  under  obligations  to 
a  vagabond. 

"  Mrs.  and  Miss  Crofton,"  she  announced.  "  I 
am  sure  that  we  are  greatly  indebted  to  you.  In- 
deed, I  fear — I  think  that  you  saved  our  lives." 

"  Oh,  no.  When  the  ponies  had  tired — as  they 
soon  would  have — the  driver  would  have  got  con- 
trol of  them  again.  I  was  one  of  a  number  of  men 
trying  to  stop  them.  If  I  hadn't  caught  the  reins 
someone  else  would.  So  please  don't  put  it  in  that 
light.  I  trust  you  will  go  back  in  my  carriage;  and 
now  that  you  are  here  you  might  as  well  see  Pom- 
peii." 

"Barnes!"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Crofton.  "Are  you 
one  of  the  Connecticut  Barneses?  " 

"  No,  the  Virginia  Barneses.  My  great-grand- 
father was  in  New  England  a  little.  He  was  on 
Washington's  staff." 

As  he  spoke  he  flashed  a  plea  for  forgiveness  into 
the  daughter's  eyes  for  indulging  in  the  most  ridicu- 
lous of  American  foibles.  On  his  behalf  it  must 
be  said  that  he  was  very  keen  on  seeing  Pompeii  in 
the  company  of  Miss  Crofton.  If  he  had  said  that 

276 


MRS.   GERLISON'S   OWN    STORY 

he  was  a  Connecticut  Barnes  Mrs.  Crofton  would 
have  been  convinced  that  he  was  a  "  perfect  gen- 
tleman." As  it  was,  she  was  so  far  satisfied  with 
him  as  to  consent  to  his  proposal. 

She  was  sorry  almost  immediately,  and  very  sorry 
after  her  Sadie  and  Barnes,  leaving  her  and  the  guide 
alone,  spent  more  than  three-quarters  of  an  hour 
looking  at  the  remains  of  the  theatre;  as  if  the 
theatre,  with  twenty  lines  in  the  guide-book,  was 
more  interesting  than  the  house  of  Marcus  Lucre- 
tius, with  two  pages. 

She  was  silent  all  the  way  back  to  Naples,  thank- 
ing her  stars  that  she  had  kept  Sadie's  high  spirits 
in  strict  abeyance,  and  that  Sadie  was  already  pub- 
licly and  solemnly  engaged  to  one  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Gerlisons;  while  the  young  people  talked  and 
laughed  as  if  the  world  was  their  nut  and  they  were 
cracking  it  and  prying  out  the  meat  leisurely  with 
picks  of  gold.  She  made  their  good-by  formal, 
final,  for  all  that  was  said  then,  but  was  not  quite 
brutal  enough  to  offer  to  pay  for  the  carriage. 

Barnes  returned  to  his  ship  in  the  frame  of  mind 
of  one  who  has  met  with  a  most  enjoyable  adventure. 
He  pictured  to  himself  how  he  would  chaff  his  two 
friends  for  not  accompanying  him.  But  when  he 
found  himself  at  the  mess-table  he  merely  said  that 

277 


THE   WAYS   OF  THE   SERVICE 

he  had  seen  Pompeii,  and  that  it  had  not  changed 
any  more  since  the  other  members  saw  it  than  it  had 
in  the  last  1,500  years.  The  reason  for  his  silence 
was  due  to  a  peculiar  process  of  recollection  that 
gradually  came  to  occupy  most  of  his  spare  mo- 
ments. You  will  better  understand  this  if  you  will 
read  the  following  letters: 

U.  S.  S.  Vermont. 

From  NAPLES  to  SMYRNA, 

January  16,  1877. 

DEAR  Miss  CROFTON:  We  sailed  fifteen  minutes 
after  I  was  aboard,  and  this  morning  our  noble  ferry- 
boat is  meandering  along  at  the  rate  of  five  knots. 
Still,  if  the  Government  builds  no  new  ships  we  may 
look  back  on  five  knots  as  reckless. 

If  I  were  ashore  I  should  certainly  give  myself 
the  pleasure  of  calling  on  you.  I  do  hope  that 
neither  you  nor  your  mother  has  suffered  any  un- 
pleasant consequences  from  the  upsetting.  If  you 
haven't,  then  I  must  say  I'm  very  thankful  for  the 
runaway.  Instead  of  the  dreary  afternoon  that  I 
contemplated — well,  I  don't  know  when  I  have  had 
such  a  pleasant  time.  I  thank  you  for  it.  I  hope 
that  I  may  see  you  again  one  day  to  thank  you  in 
person.  I  am  afraid  that  I  didn't  make  enough  of 
a  point  of  doing  so  yesterday.  For,  after  all,  Ameri- 

278 


MRS.   GERLISON'S   OWN   STORY 

cans  are  not  so  numerous  in  Italy  that  they  need 
be  strangers. 

I  am  addressing  this  letter  care  your  hotel  in 
Naples.  Probably  you  will  have  gone  before  I  have 
mailed  it  at  Smyrna  and  it  has  travelled  all  the  way 
back  to  you. 

With  the  pleasantest  recollections,  I  am, 

Yours  sincerely,    ARTHUR  BARNES. 

U.  S.  S.  Vermont, 

From  NAPLES  to  SMYRNA, 

January  17,  1877. 

DEAR  Miss  CROFTON:  Though  I  did  have  some 
excuse  yesterday  for  writing,  I  confess  that  I  have 
none  to-day  except — well,  a  sailor's  time  may  hang 
heavy  on  his  hands.  Besides,  I  have  thought  a  great 
deal  of  the  afternoon  I  spent  with  you.  It  is  the 
brightest  memory  of  my  European  cruise.  How 
admirably  cool  you  were  in  the  runaway!  I  have 
laughed  a  dozen  times  about  your  remark  as  you 
got  up  from  the  spill. 

You  asked  me  a  great  deal  about  the  routine 
aboard  ship.  [Then  follows  a  description  of  the 
day's  routine.] 

The  other  letter  is  already  sealed,  so  I  will  mail 
this  one  separately.  Yours  sincerely, 

ARTHUR  BARNES. 
279 


THE  WAYS  OF  THE  SERVICE 

U.  S.  S.  Vermont. 

From  NAPLES  to  SMYRNA, 

January  18,  1877. 

DEAR  Miss  CROFTON:  I  have  no  excuse  except 
that  I  want  to  write  to  you;  and  it  is  such  an  un- 
usual thing  for  me  to  want  to  write  to  anybody — in 
common  with  others,  I  enjoy  receiving  letters  in 
inverse  ratio  to  making  them — that  I  feel  bound  to 
carry  out  my  desire.  Am  I  presumptuous?  I  hope, 
at  any  rate,  that  you  will  not  reason  if  I  write  so 
much  on  short  acquaintance  that — yet,  I  must  con- 
fess that  that  is  just  what  I  should  do.  .  .  . 
(More  details  about  life  at  sea.) 

Yours  sincerely, 

ARTHUR  BARNES. 

U.  S.  S.  Vermont. 

From  NAPLES  to  SMYRNA, 

January  19,  1877. 

DEAR  Miss  CROFTON:  No  excuse  offered,  except 
that  I  thought  of  you  all  the  while  last  night  during 
my  watch,  as  I  paced  the  deck  with  the  stars  over- 
head and  the  wheezing  of  our  old  kettledrum  en- 
gines (which  are  a  disgrace  to  the  navy  of  a  civilized 
state)  in  my  ears.  There  are  other  things  about  the 
routine  of  the  ship  that  you  may  not  know.  You 
see,  when  I  spent  four  years  at  Annapolis  to  learn 

280 


MRS.   GERLISON'S   OWN   STORY 

the  trick — how  foolish  I  was  to  try  to  tell  it  all  in 
one  letter.    .    .    . 

And  if  what  I  thought  of  to-day  could  be  ex- 
pressed in  a  wish,  it  would  be  that  I  could  have  a 
month's  vacation,  and  every  day  thereof  I  could  go 
to  Pompeii  to  stop  a  pair  of  runaway  horses. 
Yours  sincerely, 

ARTHUR  BARNES. 

U.  S.  S.  Vermont. 

From  NAPLES  to  SMYRNA, 

January  20,  1877. 

DEAR  Miss  CROFTON:  There  is  still  another  point 
about  the  routine  that  I  did  not  mention.  .  .  . 

Consider  the  letters  as  a  diary.  Then  there  is 
only  one  letter.  It  is  the  only  diary  I  have  ever 
kept.  In  that  way,  you  may  judge  by  the  im- 
portance of-  yourself  in  these  annals  of  your 
importance  in  my  present  scheme  of  the  universe. 
We  reach  Smyrna  to-morrow. 

Yours  sincerely, 

ARTHUR  BARNES. 

U.  S.  S.  Vermont. 
SMYRNA,  January  21,  1877. 

DEAR  Miss  CROFTON:  We  have  called  on  the 
consul  and  the  missionaries  and  impressed  the  Turks. 

281 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

So  to-morrow  we'll  up  anchor  and  off  to  the  Piraeus. 
Our  Secretary  of  the  Navy  must  overwork  himself 
in  keeping  us  on  the  go  back  and  forth  across  the 
Mediterranean — and  that's  another  point  about  the 
routine  important  for  the  layman  to  know.  .  .  . 

I  posted  all  the  letters  to-day  and  I  marked  them 
one,  two,  three,  etc.  They  will  come  to  you  in  the 
same  mail — all  in  a  strange  hand!  I  can  imagine 
your  curiosity.  I  pray  that  you  will  begin  at  the 
beginning. 

I  should  like  to  know  that  your  spill  did  you  no 
harm.  If  you  will  be  so  kind  as  to  reply,  address 
me  care  the  American  Consul  at  Trieste.  We  are 
going  there  after  the  Piraeus,  and  then  back  to 
Naples.  Sincerely  yours, 

ARTHUR  BARNES. 

P.  S. — The  most  important  observation  I  have  to 
make  about  Smyrna  is  that  there  is  no  Pompeii  near 
at  hand. 

U.  S.  S.  Vermont. 
From  SMYRNA  to  the  PIR^US, 
January  22,  1877. 

DEAR  Miss  CROFTON:  I'm  sorry  about  the  car- 
riage incident.  I  wish  that  we  could  have  met  un- 
der different  circumstances.  Now  it  looks  to  a 
superficial  observer  as  if,  because  I  had  saved  you 

282 


MRS.   GERLISON'S   OWN   STORY 

from  a  bad  spill — well,  that  I  had  taken  advantage 
of  your  feeling  of  thankfulness  to  write  to  you. 
Nothing  of  the  kind.  I  should  have  written  to  you 
just  the  same — yes,  I  know  that  I  should  have  writ- 
ten more  if  we  had  merely  been  introduced  by  a 
friend  at  the  gate  of  Pompeii.  [More  details  about 
the  routine  of  a  man-of-war.] 

Sincerely  yours, 

ARTHUR  BARNES. 

U.  S.  S.  Vermont. 
The  PHLEUS,  January  23,  1877. 
DEAR  Miss  CROFTON:  I  don't  want  you  to  put 
a  wrong  construction  on  my  regret  about  the  car- 
riage incident.  I  thank  kind  fate  for  it  in  one  sense 
— because  through  it  I  met  you.  There!  I  have 
been  candid.  This  is  to  be  a  candid  letter  and  the 
last  I  shall  write  before  I  see  you  or  hear  from 
you.  From  the  other  letters  I  fear  you  will  think 
I  have  not  been  in  earnest.  I  am  very  much  in  ear- 
nest, now.  Last  night,  on  watch,  I  recalled  every 
word  of  yours  that  afternoon.  By  thinking  of  you 
so  much  I  have  come  to  feel  that  I  have  known  you 
for  years.  This  frank  statement  I  offer  as  an  ex- 
planation, as  a  basis  for  hope.  If  I  write  you  more 
letters  I  shall  confess  all  the  truth.  I  shall  confess 
that  the  girl  for  me  has  "  arrived,"  and  with  my 

283 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

heartstrings  for  reins  she  could  drive  me  where  she 
pleased.  But  in  propriety  [a  word,  apparently 
"  dear,"  is  crossed  out]  I  ought  not  to  say  that  until 
I  have  proved  myself  worthy. 

I  beg  of  you  to  write  to  me.  I  beg  that  I  may 
come  to  see  you  wherever  you  are.  Anyway,  I 
shall  seek  you  out.  At  the  worst  you  can  only  turn 
me  away  from  your  door.  Until  then  I  shall  visit 
Pompeii  every  day,  with  deep  interest,  without  even 
knowing  one  sight  from  another.  You  will  give  me 
a  chance — well,  a  chance  for  you  to  know  me.  [No 
details  about  the  routine  of  a  man-of-war.] 
Patiently  yours, 

ARTHUR  BARNES. 

He  received  no  answer  at  Trieste.  He  received 
none  at  Naples,  where  he  made  inquiries  about  the 
Croftons  at  the  hotel.  All  the  concierge  knew  was 
that  the  young  lady  and  her  mother  had  given  their 
address  as  the  American  Legation,  Rome.  The  Le- 
gation (instead  of  the  Consulate)  suggested  that 
they  might  be  friends  of  the  Minister.  He  secured 
leave  as  soon  as  he  could. 

Two  stations  out  of  Rome  he  saw  Miss  Crofton 
(as  he  supposed)  and  her  mother  enter  a  compart- 
ment of  the  same  carriage.  He  met  them  as  they 

284 


MRS.   GERLISON'S   OWN   STORY 

alighted.  Miss  Crofton  started  and  then,  with 
heightening  color,  held  out  her  hand.  Mrs.  Crof- 
ton was  affable.  In  a  moment,  when  Mrs.  Crofton 
was  busy  with  instructions  to  her  maid,  Barnes  had 
an  opportunity  for  a  word  alone  with  the  daughter. 

"  You  received  my  letters?  You  won't  be  too 
hard,  I  hope." 

"  Yes,"  she  stammered  in  great  embarrassment. 
"  I  was  just  about  to  send  you  a  card.  I  didn't  tell 
you  I  was  engaged.  I  have  been  Mrs.  Gerlison  for 
two  weeks." 

"  Forgive  me,"  he  exclaimed. 

He  tried  to  say  something  more  and  could  not. 
Then  he  turned  back,  as  if  he  had  left  something  in 
his  compartment.  As  he  entered  the  street  he  saw 
that  her  husband  and  a  carriage  were  waiting  for 
her.  For  some  time  he  could  not  recall  where  he 
had  seen  Lieutenant  Gerlison.  It  was  at  a  cafe  in 
Naples  two  nights  before.  A  friend  had  pointed  him 
out  as  the  beastly  American  military  attache  at 
Rome  who  had  just  married  a  wealthy  girl,  but  was 
not  willing  to  give  up  visits  to  a  popular  woman  of 
the  world  in  Naples. 

Then  Barnes  thought  of  the  straight  back  and  the 
straight  profile  of  Mrs.  Crofton,  and  pitied  Mrs. 
Gerlison  as  well  as  himself. 

285 


II 

Major  Gerlison  had  two  friends:  His  wife,  whom 
he  considered  as  his  enemy  because  she  had  saved 
him  on  three  occasions  from  dismissal  from  the  Ser- 
vice; and  Slearing,  a  bad-mannered,  itinerant  news- 
paper correspondent,  who  had  no  sponsors  among 
his  fellows.  The  Major  and  Slearing  got  drunk  to- 
gether; they  agreed  that  the  country  was  going  to 
ruin,  while  the  Major  retailed  what  he  said  was  the 
gossip  of  the  club  for  the  correspondent's  letters; 
they  agreed  that  there  remained  as  a  bulwark  against 
the  corruption  of  the  day  only  one  honest  officer  and 
one  honest  correspondent,  when,  if  anybody  had 
found  it  worth  while  to  pay  the  price,  both  could 
have  been  bribed  with  a  bottle  of  champagne. 

For  the  sake  of  the  most  charming  woman  in  the 
army  Gerlison  was  allowed  to  remain  in  the  club; 
for  her  sake,  the  officers  spoke  to  him  pleasantly 
when  they  met  him;  for  her  sake,  the  beast  was  per- 
mitted to  wear  the  uniform  which  is  supposed  to  be 
the  insignia  of  decent  conduct  as  well  as  of  courage. 

286 


MRS.   GERLISON'S   OWN   STORY 

His  regiment  had  come  with  the  First  Expedi- 
tion. As  soon  as  he  had  set  foot  on  the  soil  of  Luzon 
he  began  to  wonder,  between  oaths,  "  why,  in  h — 1, 
the  United  States  had  violated  all  its  principles  and 
come  to  this  God-forsaken  country,"  where  you  had 
to  sleep  in  tents,  and  drinks  were  few  and  far  be- 
tween. 

"  Why,  in  h — 1,  the  United  States,"  was  the  stock 
complaint  of  the  Major  from  first  to  last.  Naturally, 
it  grew  irksome  to  officers  to  whom  love  of  country 
was  as  well  grounded  a  first  precept  as  obedience  to 
its  orders.  That  was  what  he  was  saying  on  Au- 
gust 1 3th,  the  day  when  the  flag  was  raised  for  good 
and  all  over  Manila,  as  he  came  limping  up  from  the 
rear  after  the  fight  was  over. 

"  I  hate  to  say  it,"  his  Colonel  said.  "  I  hate  to 
believe  it  of  any  man  of  the  regular  service,  whom 
his  country  has  paid  and  found  for  thirty  years  of 
peace — but  I  do  believe  you  are  a  coward,  and  I'll 
prefer  charges  against  you,  if  it's  the  last  thing  I  do 
in  this  world." 

Yet  when  Mrs.  Gerlison,  pleading  with  the  Colo- 
nel, said  that  she  was  sure  that  her  husband  had 
been  taken  suddenly  ill  just  as  his  regiment  began 
its  advance,  the  Colonel  concluded  that  the  silent 
contempt  of  the  Major's  men  as  he  passed  their  line 

287 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

on  the  evening  of  the  I3th  was  punishment  enough 
for  him. 

And  so  the  beast  had  another  grudge  against  his 
wife. 

When  second  lieutenants  asked  how  she  had  ever 
come  to  marry  him,  old  officers  said  that  Gerlison 
was  handsome  as  a  young  man,  with  an  influential 
father  and  friends;  she  could  not  have  known  at  the 
time  that  he  was  a  sneak  and  a  roue. 

When  second  lieutenants  asked  why  she  did  not 
leave  him  and  seek  a  divorce,  old  officers  shook  their 
heads. 

"  If  you  marry  into  the  army,"  they  said,  "  you 
are  yoked  to  more  than  a  man  or  a  woman  for  better 
or  worse — you  are  yoked  to  the  Service,  which  may 
believe  in  divorce  with  all  its  heart,  but  will  not  ex- 
cuse it." 

When  second  lieutenants  asked  how  it  was  that 
she  kept  so  young,  old  officers  said  that  it  was  a  habit 
with  her  to  be  cheerful  and  to  think  of  the  happiness 
of  others. 

There  was  another  reason  which  explained,  among 
other  things,  why  she  was  the  ally  and  confidant  of 
all  couples  who  found  that  family,  wealth,  or  posi- 
tion ran  counter  to  their  true  love.  She  was  young 
because  she  fed  on  the  memory  of  an  innocent  and 

288 


MRS.   GERLISON'S   OWN   STORY 

delicious  flirtation  of  her  youth.  Some  hold  secrets 
in  their  hearts  which  eat  as  decay  destroys  an  apple 
from  the  core,  no  matter  how  thick  its  skin;  Mrs. 
Gerlison's  secret  radiated  happiness  through  her 
whole  being. 

"  It  is  such  a  little  thing;  so  ridiculous  to  make 
so  much  of  it,  to  live  upon  it,"  she  told  herself.  "  Yet 
it  is  my  philosophy  to  make  much  of  little  things;  to 
rejoice  in  the  eddies  and  not  to  hear  the  roar  of  the 
main  current." 

Probably  he  had  forgotten  all  about  it,  she  some- 
times thought.  Still,  there  was  the  fact  that  he  had 
never  married.  She  had  followed  his  career  in  the 
Service  journals.  She  had  glowed  with  pride  over 
his  part  in  the  battle  of  Manila  Bay.  His  efficiency 
record  was  as  well  known  to  her  as  to  himself.  She 
looked  forward  with  as  much  if  not  more  interest 
than  he  to  the  great  date  in  the  near  future  when 
he  should  be  a  rear-admiral. 

In  all  the  twenty  years  that  had  elapsed  since  that 
day  in  Naples,  she  had  seen  him  only  once.  Then 
he  was  passing  in  a  carriage  on  the  Bridge  of  Spain 
and  his  face  was  turned  away — she  wondered  if  by 
intention.  From  the  Luneta,  in  the  evening,  she 
could  see  his  cruiser  standing  out  against  the 
golden  fan  of  the  sun's  nightly  adieu,  and  then 

289 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

watch  its  lights  breaking  out  when  darkness 
came. 

Naval  officers,  though  they  went  frequently  to  the 
club,  seldom  went  to  the  Luneta.  It  was  not,  then, 
surprising  that  Captain  Barnes's  first  appearance 
there,  to  Mrs.  Gerlison's  knowledge,  was  not  until 
the  evening  of  February  3,  1899.  She  was  not  im- 
mediately certain  that  the  man  walking  up  and  down 
with  Colonel  Smalley  was  he,  as  his  back  was  toward 
her.  When  he  faced  in  her  direction  she  no  longer 
had  any  doubt.  She  felt  her  heart  flutter.  Instantly 
she  became  engrossed  in  the  sea,  as  if  that  would 
stop  the  beating  in  her  temples.  She  did  not  dare 
to  look  around. 

"  Good-evening,  Mrs.  Gerlison." 

The  voice  sounded  as  familiar  as  if  she  had  heard 
it  only  yesterday.  She  turned;  her  eyes  met  his; 
she  felt  the  blood  leaving  her  face  in  a  flood.  The 
presence  in  the  life  of  the  image  which  she  had  car- 
ried in  her  imagination  for  twenty  years  had  numbed 
her  faculties. 

"  You  haven't  forgotten  me — Mr.  Barnes,  at 
Naples?  " 

"  No.  How  could  I?  "  she  exclaimed,  holding  out 
her  hand.  She  had  meant  to  speak  lightly  and  easily, 
but  her  words  sounded  distraught  and  pathetic  in 

290 


MRS.   GERLISON'S   OWN   STORY 

her  own  ears.  "  You  see  I  wasn't  expecting  to  see 
you.  I  was  taken  by  surprise,"  she  added. 

Even  after  that  stern  attempt  her  voice  seemed 
unnatural. 

'  Yes,  twenty  years  is  a  long  time  between  calls, 
and  I've  grown  pretty  gray  and  old,"  he  remarked, 
"  while  you  haven't  a  single  white  hair.  The  world 
has  been  kind  to  you." 

"  I  have  tried  to  make  it  kind,"  which  was  nearer 
than  she  had  ever  come  to  confessing  her  system  of 
philosophy  to  anyone. 

"  As  I  knew  you  would." 

"  And  you?  "  she  asked.  "  Has  it  been  kind  to 
you?  " 

"  The  lot  of  the  Service:  little  worry,  some  work, 
much  routine,  and  clean  linen,  while  I  have  honestly 
tried  to  do  my  duty.  And  I  have  not  married,"  he 
added. 

Then  Mrs.  Gerlison  felt  the  blood  rushing  back  to 
her  face  in  a  flood,  and  it  seemed  that  her  sight  was 
dimmed  with  tears.  Why  should  he  have  said  that  ? 
How  could  she  reply  to  it? 

On  his  part,  the  sailor  wondered  what  else  he 
could  say.  The  sudden  impulse  which  sent  him  to 
the  carriage  arose  from  his  desire  to  tell  her  this. 
An  officer  of  the  navy  who,  for  twenty  years,  had 

291 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

loved  the  memory  of  a  woman — can  he  pay  her  any 
greater  compliment  than  such  a  confession? 

At  that  moment  Major  Gerlison  approached. 
He  brushed  Barnes's  elbow  roughly  as  he  put  his 
foot  on  the  step  and  called  to  the  driver  to  go  to 
the  club.  The  Captain,  lifting  his  hat  to  Mrs.  Ger- 
lison, turned  away  without  seeming  to  notice  the 
Major's  rudeness. 

Only  a  few  words  passed  between  husband  and 
wife  on  the  way. 

"  If  I  waited  until  you  were  through  talking  to 
some  man — if  it  isn't  one  it's  another — we'd  never 
move,"  he  said.  "  I  have  to  get  a  little  use  of  my 
carriage  once  in  awhile." 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  carriage  and  their  house 
were  maintained  out  of  her  money.  He  had  lost  his 
own  fortune  by  gambling,  and  his  pay  was  spent  on 
himself. 

"  Of  course  you  have,"  was  the  quiet  reply.  "  The 
seat  beside  me  is  always  vacant." 

"  Oh,  yes.  If  you  can't  let  all  your  admirers  ride, 
what's  the  use  of  letting  any? "  he  growled. 
"  You're  impartial,  at  least." 

She  did  not  attempt  to  argue  with  him.  As  she 
looked  at  his  face  she  could  not  help  comparing  it 
with  that  of  Captain  Barnes.  Each  told  its  story 

292 


MRS.   GERLISON'S   OWN   STORY 

plainly  enough.  One  stood  for  debauchery,  idle- 
ness, and  selfishness;  the  other  for  character  and 
rational  living. 

From  the  moment  that  she  left  her  husband  at  the 
club,  Mrs.  Gerlison's  thoughts  were  of  the  Captain. 
As  soon  as  she  reached  the  house  she  unlocked  a  lit- 
tle box  in  her  trunk  and  took  out  the  package  which 
she  had  conned  since  1877.  This  was  the  only  secret 
which  she  would  not  have  confessed  under  any  cir- 
cumstances to  the  Major  or  to  the  world. 

"  He's  finer  looking  now  than  he  was  then,"  she 
said  to  herself.  "  White  hair  becomes  him  better 
than  black.  His  face  has  filled  out  so  that  his  nose 
is  strong,  and  not  too  prominent." 

Tied  up  with  the  packet  was  a  portrait  of  him 
which  she  had  clipped  from  an  illustrated  weekly. 
She  seated  herself,  oblivious  of  everything,  to  read 
the  letters  over  again.  Often,  as  a  wife  who  tried  to 
be  loyal,  she  had  told  herself  that  she  had  done 
wrong  to  keep  them;  as  often  she  had  excused  her- 
self by  the  thought  that  if  she  put  the  one  sweet 
romance  of  her  life  out  of  mind  she  would  not  have 
the  strength  to  be  good  or  dutiful  any  longer.  And 
you,  my  good  woman — you,  though  you  have  a  back 
as  stiff  as  Mrs.  Crofton's — I  can  imagine  you  com- 
plaining of  a  sick  headache  when  the  bonds  have 

293 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

been  especially  hard,  and  seeking  your  room  to  live 
again  with  your  secret! 

She  was  pausing  over  a  sentence,  drinking  in  its 
possible  meaning — "  with  my  heartstrings  for  reins  " 
— when  the  Major  interrupted  her  happy  dream. 

Except  in  growls — and  he  must  growl — he  had 
never  objected  to  her  friends.  Confident  that  she 
was  true  to  him,  he  found  his  ownership  of  the  most 
admired  woman  in  the  army  a  source  of  innate  pride. 
Either  some  recollection  of  Captain  Barnes,  or  his 
mood  when  agitated  by  successive  drinks,  had  de- 
veloped in  him  this  evening  one  of  his  increasingly 
frequent  passions.  When  it  had  reached  a  certain 
stage  he  started  home  to  have  an  "  understanding  " 
with  his  wife.  Not  finding  her  in  the  library,  he  went 
to  her  room.  There,  as  he  entered,  he  first  made 
her  aware  of  his  presence  by  an  oath  at  the  sight  of 
the  portrait  and  the  letters.  She  seized  them  all  in 
her  hands,  but  not  before,  acute  for  the  moment 
from  drink,  he  had  recognized  that  the  likeness  was 
that  of  Captain  Barnes. 

"  So,  that's  what  you're  mooning  over!  "  he  cried. 
"Well,  I'll  take 'em  now!" 

He  snatched  for  them.  She  sprang  away  and 
dodged  around  the  table  to  the  door. 

"  Either  you  give  them  up,  or,  by  G — ,  I'll  make 
294 


MRS.   GERLISON'S   OWN   STORY 

you!  You,  the  pattern  of  wifely  respectability  in  the 
army,  sighing  over  a  lover's  letters!  " 

"No,  you  will  not!" 

"Why  won't  I?    I  can  if  I  want  to." 

"  Because  I  shall  run  into  the  street  and  cry  for 
help.  I  haven't  done  that  when  you've  struck  me 
before,  but  I  will  this  time." 

He  stood  with  his  hand  on  the  table,  swaying  from 
the  effect  of  drink. 

"  Oh,  of  course  the  army  will  side  with  a  lady  who 
has  so  many  friends." 

"  Charles,"  she  said,  "  I  hadn't  seen  Captain 
Barnes  for  twenty  years  until  this  evening.  You 
know  as  well  as  I  do  that  I  have  been  true  to  you. 
I  know,  too,  that  I  have  done  wrong  as  a  wife  to 
keep  these.  I  will  destroy  them  now,  but  you  may 
not  see  them." 

"  All  right,  destroy  them!  " 

She  led  the  way  into  the  kitchen.  As  the  letters 
and  the  portrait  were  put  into  the  stove  it  seemed 
as  if  her  heart  was  being  shrivelled  by  the  flames  in 
which  they  were  crackling.  She  asked  herself  if, 
after  this,  she  should  become  desperate  and  care- 
less. 

The  Major  felt  that  he  had  won  a  great  victory. 
He  spent  all  the  day  of  the  4th  at  the  club,  celebrat- 

295 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

ing  it  in  drink.  He  was  extremely  critical,  extremely 
bellicose.  What  he  wanted  to  know,  he  said,  was 
how  much  longer  old  Elwell  was  going  to  wait  be- 
fore he  cleaned  out  the  cordon  of  "  niggers  "  who 
were  besieging  the  town.  For  his  part,  he  could  take 
his  battalion  and  lick  them  all  to  a  standstill  in 
twenty-four  hours.  At  times,  he  chuckled  drunk- 
enly  as  he  thought  of  the  burning  of  his  wife's  treas- 
ures. Then  he  became  regretful  of  his  meekness  and 
charity  in  not  having  pushed  the  victory  home. 
What  he  ought  to  have  done  was  to  take  the  letters 
away  from  her,  read  them,  and  then — yes,  throw 
them  into  Barnes's  face. 

He  happened  to  be  absorbed  in  this  train  of 
thought  as  Barnes  entered  the  club  in  the  evening; 
whereupon,  his  murky  brain  conceived  another 
conquest  which  should  surpass  that  of  the  previ- 
ous day. 

"  Barnes,  you're  the  man  I  want  to  see,"  he  said. 

He  took  a  great  draught  as  he  rose. 

"  I  am  at  your  service,  Major,"  the  Captain  re- 
plied, passing  over  to  the  table. 

"  I've  found  you  out,  you " 

With  this,  the  Major  threw  the  remaining  con- 
tents of  his  glass  at  the  face  of  the  Captain,  who, 
perceiving  the  intention  as  the  Major  raised  his 

296 


MRS.   GERLISON'S   OWN   STORY 

arm,  stepped  to  one  side.     Only  a  few  drops  of 
whiskey  and  soda  fell  on  Barnes's  shoulder. 

The  Captain  felt  instinctively  that  any  blow  he 
dealt  Gerlison  would  be  passed  on  to  Mrs.  Gerlison. 
He  wiped  his  coat  with  his  handkerchief  coolly. 
Then  he  seized  the  Major  by  the  shoulder  and 
pushed  him  back  into  his  chair  in  a  heap. 

When  actually  face  to  face  with  the  man  who  was 
so  much  his  superior,  Gerlison  had  suddenly  lost  all 
of  his  bravado.  He  was  one  of  the  few  men  who  are 
devoid  of  both  physical  and  moral  courage.  Trem- 
bling as  if  with  palsy,  he  had  not  enough  strength  left 
to  topple  over  a  small  boy.  Hoarsely  he  called  for 
another  drink.  Two  or  three  officers,  including  Gen- 
eral Berkeley,  who  had  risen  with  the  intention  of 
preventing  the  two  men  from  coming  to  blows,  now 
stood  around  them.  Others  were  listening,  though 
pretending  to  be  occupied  with  something  else. 

"  Well,  what  is  it?  I  think  I  have  a  right  to  know 
why  you  threw  your  whiskey  in  my  face,"  Barnes 
said. 

"Yes,  what  is  it?"  put  in  General  Berkeley. 
"  Let's  have  this  matter  settled  now  and  here,  and 
not  let  it  get  any  farther." 

"  Oh,  you're  on  her  side,  too!  "  the  Major  replied 
petulantly. 

297 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

"  I  am  on  nobody's  side.  Speak  up,  or  you  do 
go  out  of  the  army  this  time.  We  haven't  degene- 
rated quite  so  far  yet  in  the  tropics  that  one  man 
can  insult  another  in  this  way  without  explanation." 

"  He's  been  writing  letters  to  my  wife." 

"  You  lie!  "  said  Barnes.  "  I  have  not  written  or 
spoken  to  your  wife  for  twenty  years,  until  last  even- 
ing on  the  Luneta.  You  lie!  " 

The  conqueror  did  not  attempt  to  rise  under  the 
whip  of  this  clear-cut  assault  on  his  honor. 

"  It's  the  letters  of  twenty  years  ago.  I  made  her 
burn  them."  And  the  conqueror  truly  felt  himself 
the  outraged  husband. 

Before  Captain  Barnes  found  words  the  subject 
was  blotted  out  of  the  mind  of  everyone  present  by 
an  officer,  all  excitement,  who  thrust  his  head  in  at 
the  door  and  shouted: 

"It's  come!    It's  come!" 

"  What?  What's  come?  "  someone  asked. 

"  Listen!  "  (In  disgust,  over  his  shoulder,  as  he 
passed  on.) 

Then  they  heard  the  sound  of  rifle  fire  in  the  di- 
rection of  San  Pedro  Macati.  A  single  shot  was 
the  fuse  to  a  train  of  powder  which  had  been  ready 
for  ignition  for  two  months.  At  last  the  insurrection 
was  actually  begun.  The  calm  atmosphere  had  sud- 

298 


MRS.   GERLISON'S   OWN   STORY 

denly  become  charged  with  electricity.  Men  who 
had  been  idling,  chatting  and  drinking,  as  if  all  the 
time  of  future  ages  was  theirs,  rushed  out  of  the 
club,  without  waiting  to  pick  up  their  caps.  Offi- 
cers coming  from  dances  and  dinners  in  evening 
dress;  officers  in  undershirts  and  trousers;  and  offi- 
cers and  men  out  of  sick  beds  were  hurrying  on  foot, 
on  horseback,  and  in  carromatas  to  their  places 
on  the  line,  on  the  lookout  for  treachery  as  they 
went. 

Major  Gerlison  alone  remaining  in  the  club, 
called  for  more  whiskey. 

"  Only  a  little  outpost  firing.  No  use  getting  ex- 
cited about  it,"  he  told  the  attendant. 

Having  drunk  an  ordinary  drinking-glass  half  full 
of  whiskey,  he  swaggered  and  wabbled  out.  He  told 
himself  that  he  was  dignified;  that  he  was  not  being 
led  off  on  a  wild  goose  chase  by  a  lot  of  hare- 
brained fools.  A  dying  Mauser  bullet,  sighing  as  it 
dipped,  passed  overhead.  He  jumped  behind  a  tree, 
looked  to  see  if  he  had  been  observed,  and  then 
bravely  pursued  his  way.  But  he  did  not  keep  to  the 
street  leading  to  his  regiment,  which  was  stationed 
in  the  Tondo  district.  He  took  the  one  leading  to 
his  house,  where  he  found  his  wife  an  interested 
spectator  on  her  porch,  quite  regardless  of  any  dan- 

299 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

ger.  She  had  supposed  that  her  husband  was  al- 
ready well  on  the  way  to  the  front. 

"  There's  no  hurry,"  he  explained,  as  he  stum- 
bled up  the  steps.  "  I'll  have  my  carriage  brought. 
The  *  niggers  '  won't  fight  at  night,  anyway." 

"  There's  only  Benito  to  go  for  it,"  she  said.  "  He 
might  be  shot  on  the  way,  even  if  we  can  get  him 
to  go.  No  native  wants  to  be  in  the  streets." 

"  A  good  job  if  they  did  shoot  him  and  all  the 
other  '  niggers '  that  sent  us  out  to  this  God-for- 
saken country.  What  in  h — 1  we " 

"  And,  Charles,  the  stable  is  half  a  mile  away.  It 
will  take  some  time  for  him  to  go.  Perhaps  he 
cannot  get  the  carriage  anyway.  Our  cook  has 
gone  to  the  insurgents.  Probably  the  stable  boys 
have." 

"  I'll  not  move  an  inch  without  my  carriage,"  he 
growled. 

She  called  Benito.  He  said  that  he  did  not  want 
to  go,  but  he  would  to  please  the  Sefiora.  She  has- 
tily wrote  a  pass  for  him,  and  he  darted  out  into  the 
street. 

Realizing  her  husband's  drunken  condition,  she 
asked  if  she  might  not  prepare  a  drink  of  bromo- 
seltzer  or  something  to  eat  for  him.  By  way  of 
reply  he  started  toward  the  sideboard.  She  put  her- 

300 


MRS.   GERLISON'S   OWN   STORY 

self  in  the  way,  holding  up  her  hands  in  appeal.  He 
threw  her  roughly  to  one  side. 

"  Please  don't,  Charles,"  she  pleaded.  "  You  are 
not  yourself.  You  have  had  too  much,  already. 
Think  of  the  work  that  is  before  you  in  the  next  two 
or  three  days — and  yet  to-night " 

"  Oh,  I've  fixed  your  friend,  Captain  Barnes,"  he 
said,  after  he  had  drained  a  glass  of  sherry. 

Then  he  gave  his  version  of  the  incident  at  the 
club,  in  which  he  made  Barnes  apologize  and  con- 
fess to  the  world  his  fondness  for  Mrs.  Gerlison. 

"I  don't  believe  he  did  that!"  she  exclaimed, 
with  the  impulse  of  outraged  logic. 

"  Oh,  of  course  you  don't.  Of  course  you  take 
your  lover's  side." 

"  He's  not,"  she  began.  Then  realizing  the  hope- 
lessness of  talk,  she  was  silent. 

"But  I  told  them!  I  told  them!  Everybody 
knows  about  the  spotless  Mrs.  Gerlison  now.  Let- 
ters and  a  photograph,  by  G — !  Wouldn't  let  me 
read  them! " 

He  launched  into  a  tirade  in  which  he  blamed  her 
for  every  one  of  his  shortcomings.  She  bent  as  a 
reed  bends  to  the  storm,  smitten  with  a  night- 
mare of  conscientiousness.  Perhaps  after  all,  she 
thought,  what  he  said  was  true.  He  could  not  have 

301 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

helped  learning  long  ago  that  her  relations  to  him 
were  implacably  limited  by  dutifulness.  Had  love 
mismated  meant  to  him  what  it  had  to  her,  she  could 
readily  understand  how,  from  indifference  and  cyn- 
icism, he  might  have  drifted  into  debauchery — as  if 
character  and  steel  were  not  forged  by  fire.  Observ- 
ing that  he  impressed  her,  he  revelled  in  this  new 
victory,  while  his  Service  was  winning  one  of  a  dif- 
ferent kind  in  the  darkness. 

Finally,  Benito  came,  angering  the  Major  not  be- 
cause he  had  been  so  long  gone,  but  because  he  had 
returned  at  all.  One  side  of  his  coat  was  matted 
with  blood  from  a  bolo  slash  on  his  cheek  and  an- 
other on  his  arm. 

"  My  own  people  did  that,"  he  said  in  his  "  pid- 
gin "  Spanish.  "  Oh,  I  had  my  orders  to  go  like 
the  rest.  They  jump  on  the  seat  when  they  see  me 
driving  the  white  man's  carriage.  An  officer  he  shot 
them  with  his  revolver.  The  officer  want  to  take 
the  empty  carriage.  I  show  them  your  pass  and  I 
tell  him  a  great  lie — that  I  go  to  save  your  life.  Then 
he  want  to  go  with  me  to  help  save  it.  So  I  tell 
that  no  more.  Oh,  I  do  this  for  you,  Senora,  for 
you,  for  no  one  else.  I  always  say  to  you  when  my 
people  fight  your  people  I  go  fight  with  my  people 
and  your  husband  fight  with  his  people.  Is  that  not 

302 


MRS.   GERLISON'S   OWN   STOKY 

right?  Now  I  am  a  marked  man,  a  friend  of  the 
Americans,  and  when  my  people  take  the  city  they 
will  find  me  in  the  dark,  and " 

"  Oh,  shut  up,  you  d — n  nigger!  " 

The  Major  (that  profound  feeder  of  arguments  to 
anti-expansionist  correspondents)  had  struggled  to 
his  feet.  He  now  struck  a  fellow-man  in  the  face, 
merely  because  he  might;  merely  because  that  man 
was  of  a  different  color. 

"  For  you,  Senora!  "  Benito  cried,  as  he  moved 
away. 

"  Now,  Charles.  You  won't  want  your  sword,  of 
course,"  she  said,  as  she  went  to  his  room  and 
brought  out  his  revolver. 

He  had  sunk  back  into  his  chair  in  the  manner  of 
one  who  intends  to  stick  there. 

"  Oh,  you  needn't  be  in  a  hurry,"  he  growled. 
"  I'll  not  go  out  till  morning.  Captain  Higginson 
can  take  care  of  the  battalion,  all  right.  He's  so 
d — n  smart!  Responsibility  will  do  him  good. 
Anyway,  it's  nothing  but  a  little  outpost  firing  that 
sets  the  shavetails  (second  lieutenants)  and  mus- 
tangs (officers  not  graduates  of  the  Academy)  out  of 
their  heads.  The  niggers  won't  fight.  You're  not 
going  to  get  me  mixed  up  in  night  attacks.  I  never 
did  believe  in  'em." 

303 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

"  Outpost  firing!  "  she  repeated.  "  Charles, 
listen!" 

From  the  distance  came  the*  crackling  of  thou- 
sands of  rifles,  and  then,  in  "  one,  two,  three  "  order, 
the  pounding  reports  of  field  guns. 

"  If  it  was  only  outpost  firing  they  wouldn't  be 
using  the  artillery,"  she  added. 

"Humph — h!  Those  volunteer  Utahs.  They'd 
shoot  away  all  their  ammunition  at  a  yellow 
dog." 

"  No,  no,  Charles.  They  wouldn't  fire  without 
Division  orders — Brigade  orders,  anyway." 

"  Well,  I  can't  help  it  if  we've  got  fools  for  Briga- 
diers." 

She  flew  to  the  shutter  and  threw  it  open. 

"Look!"  she  cried,  pointing  toward  the  Tondo 
district,  where  the  heavens  were  lighted  with  a  red 
glare,  which  signified  an  attempt  to  burn  the  city 
over  the  heads  of  the  defenders. 

The  fire  was  in  the  direction  of  the  Major's  regi- 
ment. He  shuddered,  as  if  in  a  chill. 

"  Nothing  but  a  house  or  a  store,  I  guess,"  he  re- 
plied. 

She  went  to  his  chair  and  knelt,  with  her  hands 
upon  its  arm,  all  intensity  in  her  desire  to  awaken 
him  to  a  sense  of  his  position. 

304 


MRS.   GERLISON'S   OWN   STORY 

"  Charles,  this  is  the  time  of  all  times.  Everybody 
has  said  that  when  it  came  it  would  come  with  a 
rush.  It  has  come.  The  whole  line  is  engaged.  A 
part  of  the  city  is  in  flames.  You  missed  the  fight 
of  the  1 3th  of  August.  For  twenty  years  you  have 
been  waiting  for  this  chance.  How  often  back  in 
the  posts,  in  the  old  days,  when  we  expected  to  go 
to  our  graves  without  ever  smelling  powder,  we  have 
talked  of  how  reputations  were  made  in  a  minute  in 
a  fight,  and  how  the  thing  to  do  was  to  seize  the 
opportunity  the  instant  it  presented  itself!  The  op- 
portunity is  here,  Charles.  Your  battalion  must 
have  been  in  the  thick  of  it  from  the  start.  It  needs 
you.  Come,  Charles! " 

"  All  right.     Get  me  a  drink  of  sherry,  and  I'll 

go." 

"  Oh,  no,  I  beg  you,  Charles." 

"  Do  you  think  I'm  a  calf  to  be  fed  on  milk?  "  he 
asked.  Then  he  added,  in  the  thick  voice  of  the 
drunken  man  when  he  is  non-committal:  "  All  right. 
I  won't  go.  I  told  you  it  was  nothing  but  outpost 
firing." 

She  went  to  the  sideboard.  She  knew  him  too 
well  not  to  bring  him  a  full  glass,  but  she  weakened 
the  wine  with  water  as  much  as  she  dared.  The 
effect  of  the  draught  was  quite  the  opposite  of  what 

305 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

he  had  expected  and  she  had  hoped.  It  made  him 
bellicose,  but  only  oratorically  so. 

"  What  in  h — 1  my  country  wanted  to  violate  all 
its  principles  for  and  come  to  this  God-forsaken  hole 
I  don't  understand.  I'm  not  going  out  there  in  the 
dark.  I'll  go  in  the  morning.  I'll  go  when  I'm 
ready.  Let  the  President's  friends,  his  brigadiers, 
do  his  work !  He  didn't  give  me  any  promotion." 

The  wife's  patience  was  exhausted.  Persuasion 
having  failed,  she  tried  indignation  and  taunt. 

"  You  don't  know  what  you  are  saying.  Your 
country  has  paid  and  kept  you  since  you  entered  the 
army  to  be  ready  to  do  such  work  as  this  when  the 
call  came.  You  know  what  they  said  on  the  I3th. 
They  will  say  the  same  thing  if  you  fail  now." 

"  Let  them,"  was  the  maudlin  response. 

"  Either  you  go  to  your  battalion  or  I  will. 
Someone  must." 

"  Oh,  ho,  will  you?  "  He  broke  into  a  derisive 
laugh. 

She  picked  up  the  revolver  from  his  lap  and 
started.  At  the  door  she  stopped  and  looked  back 
to  observe  the  effect  of  this  stratagem.  Her  hus- 
band had  not  moved  from  his  slouching,  helpless 
position  with  his  hands  hanging  in  front  of  either 
arm  of  his  chair.  The  light  of  the  lamp  streaming 

306 


MRS.   GERLISON'S   OWN   STORY 

upon  his  dissipated  face  showed  clearly  what  a  wreck 
he  was. 

"  Shall  I  go?  "  she  asked. 

"  Do  as  you  please,"  he  replied.  "  Fine  idea! 
D — n  fine  idea!  " 

She  felt  the  sudden,  full  and  crushing  realization 
that  she,  with  whom  generals  had  discussed  cam- 
paigns and  battles,  had  a  coward  for  a  husband. 
While  every  white  man  in  uniform  in  Manila  was 
doing  his  duty,  and  many  of  them  were  doing  a  little 
more,  he  was  skulking  at  home.  However  poor  a 
knight  he  was.  his  crest  was  hers.  She  had  solaced 
herself  with  the  thought  that  men  who  drank  hard 
were  sometimes  capable  as  well  as  brave  in  the  field. 
Her  reputation  as  lacking  ambition  was  grossly  false. 
In  her  heart,  as  much  as  any  other  woman,  she  would 
have  liked  to  see  her  husband  the  head  of  the  army. 

Anything  was  now  preferable  to  remaining  in  the 
house  with  him  at  this  great  hour;  for,  against  his 
presence,  besides  the  natural,  inbred  contempt  of  the 
Service,  all  her  reason  and  instinct  were  in  revolt. 
She  made  her  threat  a  deed.  She  felt  that  if  she 
remained  longer  she  would  call  him  coward,  drunk- 
ard, beast,  to  his  face. 

"  I'll  tell  them  you  are  ill,"  she  called,  as  she  left 
the  house. 

307 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

She  had  always  respected  Benito  for  saying  can- 
didly that  he  would  go  to  fight  for  his  own  people 
when  the  time  came.  She  felt  that  she  could  not 
now  justly  ask  him  to  accompany  her.  All  she  knew, 
all  she  thought,  as  she  untied  the  hitching-strap  and 
took  the  reins  in  hand,  was  represented  in  the  pros- 
pect and  the  philosophy  of  action  hastening  from  a 
horrible  phantom.  Very  likely  she  would  be  con- 
sidered mad;  but  she  was  doing  the  best  she  could 
for  the  honor  of  the  uniform  that  her  husband  wore. 

Down  the  Calle  Nozaleda  and  along  the  road  to 
the  Bridge  of  Spain  flew  this  carriage  with  its  gal- 
loping horses  and  its  sole  occupant,  the  only  woman 
abroad  in  Manila  at  that  hour.  The  sentries  on  the 
bridge  halted  her.  She  told  them  imperiously  that 
she  was  on  her  way  to  get  wounded,  and  they  allowed 
her  to  proceed.  A  block  on  one  side  of  the  Calle 
Rosario  was  burning,  so  she  turned  into  the  narrow 
Calle  Anloague.  A  few  erring  shots  were  fired  at 
her  from  the  windows,  quickening  the  speed  of  the 
ponies,  while  the  carriage,  slewing  from  curb  to  curb, 
threatened  to  be  upset. 

Out  into  the  open  space  of  the  Plaza  del  Calderon 
de  la  Barca  she  guided  her  team  with  a  cool  and 
practiced  hand  which  would  have  excited  the  ad- 
miration of  the  army  teamsters.  Before  her  the  sky 

308 


MRS.   GERLISON'S   OWN   STORY 

was  a  glow  of  savage  red  light,  sometimes  darkened 
by  a  column  of  black  smoke  from  a  burning  hemp 
warehouse,  where  the  blaze  had  not  yet  gained  full 
headway,  and  again  cut  by  a  darting  sheet  of  flame 
as  a  nipa  hut  tumbled  into  ruins.  The  hollows  of 
the  bamboos,  as  they  exploded  from  the  heat,  made 
a  crackling  easily  mistaken  for  continuous  Mauser 
volleys. 

As  she  pursued  her  way,  the  ponies  growing  more 
and  more  excited  and  less  manageable,  she  soon 
realized  that  some  of  the  explosions  were  indeed  the 
popping  of  bullets  through  the  air;  for  she  felt  the 
breath  of  one  and  heard  the  swan  song  of  others  in 
their  dying  flight.  She  passed  houses  which  were 
on  fire,  the  heat  burning  her  cheek  and  the  smoke 
stifling  her.  Then  she  emerged  into  an  area  which 
had  not  yet  been  ignited.  A  hundred  yards  beyond 
was  a  veritable  sea  of  burning  nipa  huts,  their  flames 
meeting  across  the  street. 

Not  an  American  soldier  was  to  be  seen.  There 
was  no  one  to  tell  her  the  way  to  her  husband's  regi- 
ment. She  could  not  go  through  the  furnace  before 
her.  She  must  stop  her  carriage.  She  pulled  at 
the  reins  with  all  her  strength.  But  the  team  had 
gone  mad,  and,  even  as  the  horse  will  return  to  the 
burning  stable,  they  were  rushing  straight  ahead  into 

309 


THE   WAYS  OF   THE   SERVICE 

the  fire.  She  had  resolved  to  leap  to  the  ground 
and  seek  escape  by  one  of  the  alleys,  through  which 
some  of  the  natives,  who  had  remained  to  the  last 
moment  in  their  houses  to  collect  their  valuables, 
were  going,  when  one  of  the  ponies  was  hit  by  a 
bullet  which  had  passed  through  the  wall  of  flame. 
He  fell,  taking  with  him  his  mate,  who  was  soon 
tangled  in  the  harness  in  his  efforts  to  rise.  Mrs. 
Gerlison  was  partly  thrown,  and  she  partly  leaped, 
to  the  pavement,  but  rose  uninjured. 

At  that  moment  she  had  no  doubt  of  her  safety. 
She  knew  that  beyond  tBe  burning  region  immedi- 
ately ahead  was  the  American  line,  already  driving 
the  insurgents  back.  This  she  was  sure  that  she 
could  reach  by  simply  going  around  the  fire.  As 
she  started  toward  the  nearest  alley  there  emerged 
from  it  a  native  whose  face  was  as  distinctive  of  his 
character  as  is  that  of  the  Bowery  tough.  He  was 
equipped  with  the  emblems  of  his  pursuit  of  murder 
and  arson.  Rather  than  have  them  commit  crime 
in  the  ranks  of  his  army,  Aguinaldo  had  sent  his 
brigands  to  Manila  with  orders  to  kill  all  Americans 
regardless  of  sex.  Behind  the  villain  were  half  a 
dozen  of  his  fellows,  all  armed  with  knives.  Mrs. 
Gerlison  called  to  them  in  Spanish  to  go  back. 

"  It  is  our  turn  now,  Sefiora,"  the  leader  replied; 
310 


MRS.   GERLISON'S   OWN   STORY 

adding,  with  native  sarcasm,  "  I  like  your  carriage, 
and  I  hope  you  have  some  diamonds." 

"  If  you  don't  go,  I  shall  fire,"  she  said. 

Even  in  a  class  with  men  she  had  been  accounted 
a  good  pistol  shot  at  the  range.  Now,  she  was 
astonished  to  find  how  cool  she  was  when,  for  the 
first  time,  she  faced  the  awful  necessity  of  de- 
liberately taking  a  human  life  as  the  alternative  of 
losing  her  own. 

The  leader  halted  for  an  instant.  Then  he  sprang 
forward  with  the  cry,  "  Women  can't  shoot !  "  and 
fell  as  she  fired.  The  others  ran  back  down  the  al- 
ley; while  she,  amazed  at  what  she  had  done,  re- 
volted at  the  sight  of  the  figure  on  the  pavement,  his 
limbs  twitching  in  his  death  agony.  She  grew 
faint  and  leaned  against  the  carriage  for  support. 

The  dead  man's  comrades  gained  recruits  from 
the  houses  which  they  were  looting  and  burning. 
Doubling  back  by  other  alleys  they  were  soon  creep- 
ing up  under  cover  of  the  buildings  on  either  side 
of  the  street.  She  realized  too  late  their  plan 
of  surrounding  her.  Desperation  renewed  her 
strength.  She  stepped  into  the  middle  of  the  pave- 
ment, away  from  the  buildings  and  the  carriage. 
With  her  few  remaining  cartridges  she  was  prepared 
to  make  the  ruffians  pay  dearly  for  success. 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

They  crept  nearer  and  nearer.  Suddenly  her 
heart  leaped  at  the  sound  of  voices,  unmistakably 
those  of  white  men,  coming  from  beyond  the  wall  of 
smoke  through  which  she  had  just  driven.  With 
an  accuracy  that  did  her  credit,  she  emptied  her  re- 
volver at  the  manikins  in  that  direction.  Then, 
taking  quick  advantage  of  their  resultant  demor- 
alization, she  ran  as  fast  as  she  could  toward  the 
voices. 

The  next  that  she  knew  she  was  lying  on  the  car- 
riage seat,  with  a  glass  of  brandy  to  her  lips,  while 
Captain  Barnes,  who  had  been  sent  ashore  with  his 
crew  to  be  useful  wherever  there  was  work  to  be 
done,  was  at  her  side.  The  jackies  were  clearing 
the  houses  and  tearing  them  down  to  prevent  the 
fire  from  spreading. 

"  In  another  minute  you  would  have  been  shot 
for  a  Filipino  because  of  your  white  dress  and  the 
glitter  of  the  revolver  in  your  hand.  You  fainted 
just  as  we  saw  you.  We  barely  caught  you  before 
you  fell.  I  hope  you  are  better." 

"  Yes,"  she  replied,  "  much  better.  I — I  am  quite 
myself  again." 

"  I  could  scarcely  believe  my  eyes — a  white 
woman  in  this  place  at  this  time!  " 

"  I  was  very  foolish.     I  came  to  tell  the  Colonel 
312 


MRS.   GERLISO?4'S   OWN   STORY 

that  my  husband  is  ill  at  home  and  could  not  come." 
She  tried  to  speak  with  spirit,  even  mirthfully,  but 
her  voice  was  weak  and  quavering.  "  You  see,"  she 
continued,  "  my  pony  was  hit.  Then  the  natives 
surrounded  me.  I  heard  your  voices  and  I  broke 
through  the  enemy's  lines  by  a  sudden  attack  at  one 
point  with  all  my  forces.  That  was  correct  tactics, 
wasn't  it?  But  after  all  my  talk  about  white  men 
permitting  brown  men  to  besiege  them,  that  was 
just  the  error  I  committed,  myself.  Instead  of  rush- 
ing down  the  alley  the  minute  I  killed  that  one  on 
the  ground  there,  I  remained  here." 

"  I  was  hoping  that  we  could  save  this  area  be- 
tween the  two  fires,"  he  said,  "  but  I  think  I  had 
better  give  it  up  and  begin  work  on  the  other  side. 
The  heat  is  terrible  here,  too.  If  you  will  allow  me, 
I  will  assist  you  out  of  it." 

He  bent  over  her,  as  if  he  would  carry  her  away 
from  the  carriage  in  the  same  manner  that  he  had 
carried  her  to  it. 

"  No,  I  can  walk,"  she  said,  rising.  "  Yes,  I  can 
— I'm  sure  I  can — if — if  you  will  let  me  rest  my  hand 
on  your  shoulder,"  she  added,  with  an  effort. 

She  trembled  from  the  effect  of  reaction.  She 
was  so  weak  that  she  would  have  fallen  but  for  his 
support.  He  lifted  her  in  his  arms. 

313 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

"  After  all,  I  am  only  a  woman,"  she  said,  half  in 
explanation,  half  in  complaint. 

As  he  had  hastened  to  the  quay,  to  his  cruiser  and 
back  to  shore  again,  beyond  his  plans  and  his  direct- 
ing of  his  men  was  the  thought: 

"  She  has  kept  my  letters!  She  has  kept  my  let- 
ters!" 

He  would  have  been  a  poor  student  of  mankind, 
indeed,  if  he  had  not  seen  through  the  story  of  her 
mad  ride.  He  knew  well  enough  that  she  had 
braved  all  dangers  to  apologize  for  a  drunken  hus- 
band. The  love  for  her,  born  in  the  theatre  at  Pom- 
peii, seemed  now  shallow  and  boyish  beside  the  new 
feeling  in  his  heart.  He  told  himself,  again  and 
again,  as  he  bore  her  away  from  the  smoke  and  the 
roar  of  the  flames,  that  he  must  be  guarded  in  what 
he  said;  that,  as  an  honorable  man,  he  would  apply 
the  next  day  to  be  relieved  from  the  Asiatic  Squad- 
ron. If  they  Dreyfused  him  to  a  Devil's  Island,  so 
much  the  better;  anything,  so  that  he  should  not  be 
walking  the  deck  of  a  ship  in  the  harbor  of  the  city 
where  she  lived.  All  this  was  a  pledge  of  his  honest 
effort  to  crowd  out  of  mind  the  sweet  and  holy 
pleasure  of  having  her  in  his  arms. 

He  carried  her  to  a  cool  place  beside  the  bridge 
of  a  canal. 


MRS.   GERLISON'S   OWN   STORY 

"  I  shall  be  quite  safe  here,"  she  said.  "  Don't  let 
me  keep  you  from  your  work,  for  this  is  the  time  of 
all  times " 

She  checked  herself  quickly  as  she  recalled  that 
these  were  the  very  words  which  she  had  used  to  her 
husband. 

"  There  isn't  much  glory  for  a  naval  officer  in 
police  duty,"  he  replied,  lightly.  "  Still,  police  work 
is  the  most  important  work  to  be  done  here,  and  I 
must  direct  my  crew."  As  he  spoke,  his  second  in 
command,  at  the  head  of  his  men,  appeared  in  the 
open  place  where  they  were. 

"  I  shall  be  back  in  a  minute,"  he  added. 

After  giving  a  few  directions,  he  returned  to  her 
with  a  boatswain  and  six  jackies. 

"  I  hope  it  will  not  be  ungallant,"  he  said,  "  but 
there  is  a  great  deal  for  me  to  do.  I  have  brought 
you  a  guard.  They  will  help  you  over  to  the  Hotel 
Oriente,  where  you  can  get  a  carriage  and  return  to 
your  house." 

"  You  could  not  do  more,"  she  replied.  "  I  thank 
you." 

Thus  he  had  recognized  and  resisted  temptation. 
After  the  scene  at  the  club,  after  the  incident  just 
passed,  there  could  be  nothing  worse  for  her  reputa- 
tion, nothing  more  likely  to  bring  her  husband's 

315 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

wrath  down  upon  her  head,  than  for  him  to  accom- 
pany her  to  her  door.  All  that  he  had  done  so  far 
was  no  more  than  he  must  have  done  for  any  woman 
placed  in  a  like  situation. 

As  he  offered  his  wishes  for  no  unpleasant  effects 
from  her  experience,  as  he  shook  hands  and  said 
good-night,  he  was  confident  that  he  should  never 
permit  himself  the  pain  or  her  the  embarrassment 
of  seeing  him  again.  She  watched  him,  erect  and 
easy  of  bearing,  as  he  went  back  to  his  men.  For  a 
moment  she  hid  her  face  in  her  hands  in  agony. 
Then,  straightening  up,  she  smiled  at  the  boatswain 
who  was  now  responsible  for  her  safety. 


Meanwhile,  a  tragedy  had  been  enacted  on  the 
Calle  Nozaleda.  When  Benito  entered  the  room  in 
response  to  a  call  for  more  sherry,  the  Major  sud- 
denly developed  the  veritable  courage  of  a  lion.  He 
swore  something,  by  G — ,  about  the  best  "  nig- 
ger "  being  a  dead  one,  and  started  into  his  room 
to  get  his  sword.  But  a  knife,  which  the  house-boy 
had  concealed  in  his  shirt,  prevented  him  from  going 
farther  than  the  doorway. 

With  the  grim  satisfaction  of  one  who  has  paid  a 
grudge  in  full,  Benito  watched  his  master  die,  and 
then  passed  out  into  the  darkness  to  join  his  own 
people. 

316 


Ill 

When  a  lieutenant  of  artillery  and  a  lieutenant 
of  cavalry  seated  themselves  by  a  window  of  the 
club,  one  afternoon,  they  did  not  notice  the  naval 
officer  who  was  reading  a  newspaper  in  the  far  corner 
of  the  room  with  his  back  to  the  light. 

"  I  saw  Mrs.  Gerlison  on  the  Luneta  last  even- 
ing," said  the  tanned  Cavalry,  who  was  just  in  from 
"hikes"  in  the  sun.  "How  she's  changed!  She 
looked  like  an  invalid.  It  can't  be  that  she's 
mourning  so  for  the  loss  of  her  beast  of  a  husband." 

(The  Unobserved  Officer  stopped  reading.  With 
his  eyes  still  on  the  paper,  he  listened.) 

"  Yes,  people  don't  understand  it.  Her  friends 
have  been  trying  for  six  months  to  get  her  started 
for  Japan.  She's  really  going  to-morrow.  Some 
think  that  horrible  scene  of  old  Gerlison  there  in 
the  library  in  a  mess  of  blood  has  affected  her  mind." 

"  But  how  about  the  naval  man  she  was  supposed 
to  be  fond  of?  " 

(The  Unobserved  Officer  was  trying  to  read  a  line 
backward.  He  dared  not  move.) 

317 


THE   WAYS  OF   THE   SERVICE 

"  Oh,  there  was  nothing  in  that!  " 

The  Artillery,  which  was  white-faced  from  con- 
finement in  town,  spoke  with  a  sickly  feeling  of  its 
proficiency  in  gossip. 

"  M-m-m-m!  "  exclaimed  the  Cavalry,  as  he  took 
a  sip  of  the  claret  lemonade  which  the  Chinese 
"  boy  "  placed  before  him.  "  That  ice  is  real,  isn't 
it?  And  the  lemons  aren't  celluloid  make-believes, 
either!" 

"  It  tastes  like  sop  to  me.  The  club's  getting 
worse  and  worse." 

"  Rot!  It  isn't  the  club.  It's  your  liver.  Come 
out  to  Bogabo  with  me  and  I'll '  hike  '  a  little  of  the 
fur  off  your  tongue.  You  can  help  us  hunt  General 
Morales.  We've  captured  Morales  eight  times, 
now.  We're  going  after  him  again  next  week. 
Every  time  we  take  him  we  telegraph  down  to  the 
Patient  and  Well-Abused  One  to  know  what  we 
shall  do  with  him.  '  Release  him,'  is  the  reply;  '  the 
Government  says  so.'  Then  the  people  wonder  why 
the  Government  doesn't,  and  the  Government 
wonders  why  the  army  doesn't,  put  down  the  re- 
bellion. 

("  Oh,  do  tell  us  all  about  it,"  thought  the  Unob- 
served Officer.) 

'  Prepare  me  a  bath! '  says  the  man  to  his  ser- 


MRS.   GERLISON'S   OWN   STORY 

vant  in  the  desert.  '  I  have  no  water,  sir,'  is  the 
reply.  '  You  are  very  foolish/  says  the  man.  And 
the  servant  may  not  talk  back,  even  in  the  desert. 
Yes,  thanks,  another;  and  a  little  more  ice  in  it,  if 
you  please.  Oh,  I've  seen  times  while  we  were 
chasing  Morales  when  I  should  like  to  have  had  a 
chunk  frozen  in  my  stomach  the  way  they  freeze  it 
in  the  hotel  water-bottles  at  home." 

"  Here,  stop  that!  "  put  in  the  Artillery.  "  Didn't 
you  know  that  there's  a  new  rule  at  the  club  that 
you  mustn't  speak  of  home?  " 

"No.     Why?" 

"  Don't  we  come  to  the  club  to  enjoy  ourselves 
and  not  to  droon  over  hateful  impossibilities,  you 
bumpkin  from  Bogabo?  " 

"  That's  so.  I  was  going  to  tell  you  that  we  had 
a  cake  of  ice  at  Bogabo  the  other  day — the  first  in 
the  history  of  the  place.  ("  Government  policy,  culi- 
nary lessons,  anything,  so  you  don't  go,"  thought 
the  Unobserved  One.)  When  it  arrived  in  a  Dor- 
rity  it  was  the  size  of  your  fist.  We  put  it  in  water 
in  a  big  bowl,  and  we  purred  over  it,  and  smacked 
our  lips  while  the  water  cooled,  until  somebody  said 
we  ought  to  give  it  to  the  hospital.  *  That's  what 
we  ought,'  we  all  concluded.  To  the  hospital  it 
went.  We  didn't  get  a  drop.  If  that  doesn't  blot 

319 


THE  WAYS  OF  THE  SERVICE 

out  all  the  sins  of  the  Eighth  Cavalry  in  the  record- 
ing angel's  book,  then  there's  no  justice  in  the  world 
beyond." 

"  Thanks,"  said  the  Artillery.  "  The  lemonade 
tastes  better." 

Then  it  occurred  to  the  Cavalry  that  he  had  not 
finished  with  the  subject  of  Mrs.  Gerlison. 

"  What  makes  you  think  there's  nothing  between 
her  and  Captain  Barnes?  I  heard  that  they  were 
old  sweethearts." 

"  They  met  in  Italy  when  they  were  young,  and 
didn't  meet  again  until  they  came  here;  and  that's 
all,  so  far  as  anybody  knows." 

"  What  about  the  letters  Gerlison  mentioned 
when  he  jumped  Barnes  in  the  club?  That  looked 
like  business,"  said  the  matter-of-fact  Cavalry. 

"  There  weren't  any  letters,  except  those  of  Ger- 
lison's  imagination.  He  was  getting  into  such  a 
state  that  he  was  equal  to  any  aberration  of  mind. 
Barnes  hasn't  been  with  her  at  all,  except  I  saw  him 
at  her  carriage  on  the  Luneta  two  nights  ago." 

(The  Unobserved  Officer,  still  reading  the  line 
backward,  studied  it  the  more  intently  to  keep  from 
writhing  in  his  chair.) 

"  Yes.  If  he  had  cared  such  a  lot  for  her  I 
shouldn't  think  that  he  would  have  sent  her  home 

320 


MRS.   GERLISON'S   OWN   STORY 

with  a  boatswain  when  she  drove  out  to  Tondo 
through  the  fire  in  that  mad  way." 

("  Yes — yes — yes,"  thought  the  Unobserved  Of- 
ficer.) 

"  Precisely.  And  let  me  tell  you  this:  Mrs.  Ger- 
lison  would  never  be  equal  to  it  when  she  came  face 
to  face  with  marrying  out  of  the  army.  But  it  looks 
very  much  as  if  she  was  going  to  spend  the  rest  of 
her  days  mourning  for  Gerlison.  You  know  how 
hard  she  worked  to  save  him  whenever  he  got  in 
trouble.  I'm  beginning  to  think  that  she  loved  the 
brute.  (The  line  had  become  an  utter  blank  to  the 
Unobserved  One.)  It's  a  shame  for  such  a  woman 
to  waste  a  tear  on  such  a  man." 

"  A  downright,  blithering  shame! "  assented  the 
vigorous  Cavalry. 

"  Well,  I  must  be  going." 

"  And  I,  too.  I've  an  engagement  at  five  at  the 
hotel,  where  I'm  to  have  a  tub  with  a  cake  of  ice  in 
it — my  own  conception.  After  that,  I'm  going  to 
put  on  a  white  blouse  and  go  out  to  the  Luneta  and 
hear  the  band  play,  along  with  you  pale  faces." 

Captain  Barnes  sprang  to  his  feet  the  moment  the 
Cavalry  and  the  Artillery,  without  having  recog- 
nized him,  passed  out  of  the  room.  He  felt  as  one 
gagged  and  bound,  who  is  suddenly  released.  He 

321 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

had  come  ashore  early  in  order  that  he  might  see 
Mrs.  Gerlison  at  her  house,  where  she  would  not  be 
surrounded  by  friends,  as  she  was  on  the  Luneta. 
Intending  to  go  straight  to  Calle  Nozaleda  from  the 
quay,  he  had  found  himself  so  flustered  as  the  mo- 
ment approached  that  he  went  into  the  club,  not 
thinking  that  he  did  so  to  collect  his  wits  and  over- 
come his  trepidation,  but  rather  because  it  was  a 
little  too  early  to  call.  Now,  in  a  state  of  demoraliza- 
tion, he  directed  his  coachman  to  return  to  the  quay, 
as  he  concluded  that  the  talk  of  the  two  subalterns 
was  precisely  in  keeping  with  Mrs.  Gerlison's  con- 
duct toward  him. 

Shortly  after  the  outbreak,  his  cruiser  had  been 
sent  to  the  Southern  Islands.  He  had  been  back  in 
Manila  only  two  weeks.  During  his  absence  he  had 
had  no  communication  with  Mrs.  Gerlison.  He  had 
written  two  or  three  letters  of  sympathy  to  her,  only 
to  destroy  them  as  being  false  in  sentiment.  Since 
his  return  he  had  stopped  beside  her  carriage  twice 
on  the  Luneta.  Each  time  they  were  joined  by  a 
third  person  before  anything  except  commonplaces 
had  passed,  while  there  was  every  indication  that 
Mrs.  Gerlison  was  relieved  by  the  intrusion. 

A  man  of  his  age  in  the  Service,  settled  and  firm 
in  his  place,  has  reason  for  more  than  the  ordinary 

322 


MRS.   GERLISON'S   OWN   STORY 

horror  of  being  ridiculous.  The  more  he  thought  of 
it,  the  more  logical  became  the  views  of  the  Artillery. 
She  had  never  uttered  a  word  to  show  that  she  had 
ever  returned  a  particle  of  his  affection.  He  had 
been  living  for  twenty  years  in  a  bubble  for  a  house, 
which  a  little  discursive  club  gossip  had  pricked. 

Of  course,  she  had  not  kept  his  letters!  Of  course, 
the  Major  had  seen  her  reading  some  other  letters 
and  fashioned  a  tale  out  of  his  drunken  imagination! 
Her  ride  to  Tondo  now  appeared  to  him  in  what  he 
thought  was  its  true  light.  Why  had  he  not  realized 
before  that  no  woman  would  have  undertaken  such 
a  risk  for  her  husband  unless  she  loved  him?  And 
if  she  did  not  love  him,  would  she  have  remained 
in  the  same  house  where  the  Major  had  been  mur- 
dered, and  near  to  everything  that  would  remind  her 
of  him? 

This  was  logic.  Feeling  is  quite  another  thing. 
It  waited,  gaining  strength  from  compression,  until 
he  had  completed  his  edifice  of  argument;  then 
bowled  it  over.  His  heart  told  him  to  return  to 
Mrs.  Gerlison.  He  concluded  to  obey  it,  on  the 
ground  that  she  would  give  him  a  decisive  answer 
which  would  effectually  put  the  folly  out  of  his  mind. 
Such  was  the  impulse  that  he  called  to  the  driver  to 
turn  around  in  the  middle  of  the  Bridge  of  Spain, 

323 


THE   WAYS  OF   THE   SERVICE 

where  the  hubs  of  the  two  closely  packed  lines  of 
vehicles  going  in  opposite  directions  almost  graze. 
The  driver  explained  that  he  would  have  to  wait 
until  they  were  across,  and  the  Captain  almost 
grumbled  in  reply.  As  I  have  stated  heretofore, 
having  determined  on  a  line  of  action,  the  Service 
hates  delay. 

Fifteen  minutes  later  he  was  at  Mrs.  Gerlison's 
house.  She  promptly  came  out  on  to  the  veranda  in 
reply  to  his  card.  He  saw  that  she  was  pale  and 
haggard.  From  what?  From  mourning  for  her 
husband,  of  course,  he  told  himself.  He  had  been 
planning  all  the  way  from  the  bridge  to  ask  her  if 
she  thought  that  she  could  ever  care  for  him.  She 
was  going  to  say  No,  he  knew.  She  was  going  to 
be  indignant  with  him,  he  knew.  Then  he  was  go- 
ing his  way  and  never  think  about  her  any  more. 

Her  presence  left  a  blank  in  place  of  the  scheme 
of  action  he  had  in  mind.  He  was  conscious  only 
that  he  was  sitting  opposite  to  her  and  that  he  wished 
to  say  something.  She  was  scarcely  self-possessed. 
Only  one  subject  to  break  the  awkward  silence  oc- 
curred to.her.  They  talked  about  the  latest  legisla- 
tion for  the  army  and  navy.  Then  her  carriage  drew 
up  before  the  door  for  her  evening  drive.  He  hoped 
that  she  would  ask  him  to  join  her — as  if  the  woman 

324 


MRS.   GERLISON'S   OWN   STORY 

and  not  the  man  were  expected  to  give  such  an  in- 
vitation! But  she  hinted  nothing  of  the  kind. 

"  You  might  rest  your  ponies,"  he  said,  as  one 
who  lights  on  an  excuse,  "  and — and  drive  with  me." 

Anyone  not  so  dumb  as  he  was  at  that  moment, 
while  he  hung  upon  the  words  and  not  the  manner 
of  her  reply,  would  have  noticed  that  her  voice  was 
trembling  as  she  said  that  she  had  some  errands  to 
do,  and,  therefore,  would  not  trouble  him. 

He  assisted  her  into  the  carriage,  and  saw  her  ride 
away. 

"  I  know  now,"  he  thought,  as  he  drove  back  to 
the  quay.  "  That's  the  end  of  it.  There's  no  fool 
like  an  old  fool.  I'm  not  fit  to  command  a  ship. 
I've  been  living  on  a  sentiment,  and  I'll  never  think 
of  it  again.  If  I  do,  I'll  resign.  I'll  go  on  the  stage! 
I'll  take  to  writing  novels  and  twanging  a  mandolin! 
A  man  of  my  years  sighing  like  a  lovesick  boy! 
Bah!" 

Mrs.  Gerlison's  errands  were  imaginary.  She  was 
in  no  condition  of  mind  to  talk  to  people  on  the 
Luneta  after  what  had  just  passed.  Alone,  she 
drove  into  the  open  country  through  the  dust  to  the 
water-works,  her  New  England  conscience  arguing 
down  her  feelings  toward  Captain  Barnes  all  the 
way.  That  conscience  (ever  recalling  the  scene  of 

325 


THE   WAYS  OF  THE   SERVICE 

her  husband  lying  dead  on  the  library  floor,  even  as 
the  preacher  summons  hell  fire  and  damnation  to 
hold  his  congregation)  was  fast  driving  her  out  of 
her  mind.  The  woman  who  had  been  so  often  the 
partisan  of  true  love  against  all  mundane  obstacles; 
who  had  seen  clearly  where  the  affections  of  others 
were  concerned,  was  now  sinking  her  chance  of  hap- 
piness in  an  hallucination  which  she  called  duty. 
In  truth,  Mrs.  Gerlison  needed  a  Mrs.  Gerlison  to 
take  her  in  hand;  and,  unfortunately,  there  was  only 
one  Mrs.  Gerlison  in  the  army. 

If  she  found  herself  wondering  whether  or  not 
Captain  Barnes  still  loved  her,  or  ever  had  loved  her, 
she  forced  back  the  guilty  question  and  its  prospect 
of  happiness.  She  had  done  enough  wrong  by  keep- 
ing the  letters.  If  her  husband  had  not  been  in- 
toxicated he  would  have  gone  out  to  the  lines;  he 
would  not  have  played  the  coward.  The  letters 
were  the  cause  of  his  drinking  to  excess  at  that  time. 
She  had  hired  Benito,  herself.  When  he  had  said 
deliberately  that  he  would  fight  for  his  own  people, 
she  had  still  kept  him  in  her  house.  The  Major,  per- 
haps, was  more  ill  than  anything  else  on  the  night  of 
the  4th.  Her  place  was  to  have  remained  at  home 
by  his  side.  Therefore,  however  she  looked  at  it, 
she  regarded  herself  as  blameworthy  for  his  murder. 

326 


MRS.   GERLISON'S   OWN   STORY 

As  she  saw  the  actions  of  the  world,  it  had  come 
to  the  same  conclusion.  Only  a  few  persons — those 
who  felt  that  they  must,  for  her  sake — had  followed 
the  hearse  to  Paco  Cemetery.  The  many  women 
who  had  been  at  her  side  before  the  funeral  had  had 
no  kind  word  for  the  dead  man.  They  merely  left 
him  out  of  their  expressions  of  sympathy.  For  the 
Service — it  must,  as  a  matter  of  course — considers 
death  preferable  to  dishonor.  There  was  no  officer 
who  did  not  think  that  Gerlison  was  better  dead; 
who  did  not  think  that  he,  himself,  would  rather  be 
dead  than  look  at  the  world  through  the  eyes  of  a 
proved  coward.  When  her  friends  saw  that  she  was 
becoming  ill  from  grief;  when  they  concluded  that 
she  had  really  loved  Gerlison,  they  had  to  cover  a 
feeling  of  disgust  that  so  fine  a  woman  should  ruin 
her  health  and  peace  of  mind  for  such  a  miserable 
object.  For  her  sake,  because  they  could  not  refer 
to  him  with  respect,  they  were  less  than  ever  in- 
clined to  mention  him.  She  construed  this  as  mean- 
ing that  they  thought  that  she  had  not  found  her 
husband's  death  unwelcome. 

Continually,  the  Major's  account  of  the  scene  at 
the  club  passed  through  her  mind.  She,  the  subject 
of  a  brawl  on  the  night  that  he  was  killed!  All 
Manila  must  know,  she  was  certain,  that  she  had  kept 

327 


THE  WAYS  OF  THE  SERVICE 

Captain  Barnes's  letters.  Probably  it  had  no  doubt 
but  they  loved  each  other — even — no! — she  would 
not,  could  not  think  that  they  would  believe  that  of 
her.  She  had  left  the  Major  to  go  out  at  a  time 
when  women  ought  not  to  have  been  abroad,  to  be 
met  by  Captain  Barnes.  She  had  been  seen  with 
him;  yes,  in  his  arms!  Melancholy  having  gained 
sway  over  her,  it  fed  upon  its  own  vagaries. 

The  prescription  which  she  needed  was  to  over- 
hear such  a  conversation  as  that  which  had  so  ab- 
ruptly taken  the  Captain's  mind  off  his  newspaper  at 
the  club.  Captain  Leeds  partially  supplied  it.  He 
was  of  a  character  equal  to  heroic  measures. 

"  I'm  afraid  that  something  besides  Japan  is 
needed  to  do  you  any  good,"  he  said. 

"  No,  no!     Why  do  you  say  that?  " 

She  leaned  forward  in  her  chair  on  the  launch 
which  was  taking  them  out  to  the  transport,  feeling 
that  in  what  was  to  follow  was  corroboration  of  all 
her  fears.  Leeds  had  always  been  a  true  friend;  she 
felt  that  he  was  going  to  tell  her  the  opinion  of  the 
Service — reveal  the  heart  of  the  bugbear  of  every 
woman  in  the  army. 

"  Why?  Mrs.  Gerlison,  you  have  been  candid 
with  me  a  great  many  times!  It's  my  turn  to  be 
candid  with  you." 

328 


MRS.   GERLISON'S   OWN   STORY 

"Yes,  yes.  Go  on!"  she  cried,  inviting  the 
worst. 

"  Yes,  you've  called  me  a  small  boy  and  a  great 
fool,  as  I  remember.  I — I,"  he  hesitated.  He  had 
always,  whatever  she  said,  received  it  with  the  awe, 
gallantry,  and  respect  of  youth  at  the  bottom  of  the 
ladder  addressing  a  goddess  at  the  top.  "  I — I  am 
glad  to  see  you  so  much  interested  in  anything, 
these  days." 

"  Is  that  any  reason  you  shouldn't  go  on?  Or  is 
it  all  preamble,  like  a  Spanish  proclamation?  " 

She  tried  to  smile,  while  she  cupped  her  chin  in 
her  hands  in  the  old  way. 

"  Well,  the  army  thinks  you  are  a  great  fool!  It 
would  like  to  take  you  and  shake  you,  and  know 
what  you  mean  by  it — he's  been  dead  eight  mo — 
and  I'm  the  only  one  that  has  nerve  enough  to  tell 
you  so." 

Leeds  wiped  his  face  with  his  handkerchief  and 
breathed  hard.  He  expected  to  be  told  to  mind  his 
own  business. 

"  They  do  think  that?  "  she  asked,  absently.  Then 
she  added:  "  You  have  begun  telling  me,  go  on — 
I  have  always  relied  on  you — tell  me  what  they  think 
of  the  scene  at  the  club  between  Captain  Barnes  and 
my  husband ! " 

329 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

"  That  the  Major  deserved  more  than  he  got.  As 
I  heard  it,  Captain  Barnes,  who  is  a  gentleman  " — 
Leeds  could  not  help  putting  that  in — "  was  dazed 
when  your  husband  threw  the  contents  of  his  glass 
in  the  Captain's  face.  Captain  Barnes  told  him  that 
his  tale  was  a  lie,  and  pushed  him  back  into  his  chair. 
He  called  for  another  drink.  Then  the  cry  of  the 
outbreak  came." 

"  And  my  going  out  into  Tondo  alone  in  a  car- 
riage? " 

"  The  noblest  thing  a  woman  ever  did.  We  stand 
in  awe  of  you  for  it !  " 

"  And  Captain  Barnes's  rescuing  me?  " 

"  Why,  that  it  was  fortunate  and  that  he  did  not 
want  to  embarrass  you  by  returning  with  you;  but 
if  he  had  cared  for  you  he  would  have  gone  any- 
way. I  would.  I  couldn't  have  helped  it,  duty  or 
no  duty.  The  army  doesn't  expect  you  to  be  gay, 
but  it  does  think  that  you're  a  great  fool  to  mourn 
yourself  ill;  that  Gerlison  owed  everything  to  you; 
that  he  would  have  been  out  of  the  army  long  ago 
but  for  you — why,  whenever  the  regulars  criticised 
the  volunteers,  the  volunteers  had  only  to  point  to 
him  in  reply — that  he  was  a  drunken  brute,  and  a 
disgrace  to  the  Service;  that  you  were  a  fool  to  re- 
main with  him  when  that  half-breed  Senora — ; 

330 


MRS.   GERLISON'S   OWN   STORY 

that  he  was  not  worth  a  tear  of  such  a  woman  as 
you;  that  if  Benito  were  to  appear  on  the  Luneta 
to-night  he  would  receive  an  ovation;  that " 

He  was  rushing  on  with  the  impetuosity  which  is 
the  extreme  that  goes  with  the  stiff  drill  of  the 
parade-ground  and  the  discipline  of  corps;  while  she 
had  listened  spellbound  for  a  moment,  as  his  flood 
of  words  beat  down  her  illusions,  before  she  realized 
how  awful  was  the  character  which  he  was  paint- 
ing. 

"  Stop!     He  was  my  husband!  "  she  cried. 

But  once  in  a  charge,  Leeds  would  not  halt  until 
he  reached  his  objective. 

"  It's  all  true,"  he  repeated,  firmly. 

She  could  not  deny  that  it  was;  and  she  looked 
away  from  him  in  silence. 

"  And  Benito.  I  have  something  to  say  about 
him,  too,"  he  went  on.  "  He  was  brought  in 
wounded,  four  days  ago." 

"  He  was?  " 

'  Yes.  He's  dead.  I  wouldn't  speak  to  you  be- 
fore because  I  wanted  him  to  die  in  peace,  and  I 
didn't  know  what  you  might  do.  He  stood  up  alone 
in  the  face  of  a  company,  firing  till  we  brought  him 
down.  When  he  saw  that  I  recognized  him,  he 
said:  '  No  quere  (I  don't  care).  I  kill  him  now, 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

again.     He  go  to  get  his  sword  to  kill  me.     I  kill 
him  first.'  " 

"And  if  I  had  left  my  husband  his  revolver  he 
would  still  be  alive." 

"  Where  was  the  revolver?  " 

"  I  took  it  out  of  his  lap  when  I  went  to  the  car- 
riage." 

"  Who  put  it  there?  " 

"  I  did." 

"  And  where  did  you  get  it?  "  he  went  on  merci- 
lessly. 

"  From  his  room,  hanging  beside  his  sword." 

"  Then  he  couldn't  have  reached  his  revolver  any 
more  than  he  did  his  sword  before  Benito  struck  the 
blow.  Benito  was  bound  to  have  killed  him." 

"  But  if  I  had  remained  at  the  house?  " 

"  Is  it  a  wife's  duty  to  be  at  the  side  of  a  soldier- 
husband  every  moment  for  fear  a  servant  may  kill 
him?  Is  that  the  creed  of  an  army  woman?  " 

The  manner  of  her  silence  showed  that  she  had 
found  his  argument  unanswerable,  if  not  convincing. 

After  their  arrival  alongside  the  transport,  the 
presence  of  other  persons  made  it  impossible  to  recur 
to  the  subject.  As  he  exacted  a  final  promise  that 
she  would  try  to  be  more  cheerful,  he  told  her 
that  if  he  did  not  hear  good  news  about  her  from 

332 


MRS.   GERLISON'S   OWN   STORY 

Japan  he  would  go  there  himself,  and  continue  the 
rough  treatment  which  he  had  just  begun.  She 
smiled  faintly,  replying  that  he  would  be  welcome. 

"  She's  going  to  drop  right  back  into  the  rut,"  he 
thought,  on  his  way  ashore.  "  It's  a  pure  and  simple 
case  of  melancholia.  If  I'd  only  known  what  the 
real  trouble  was  in  the  first  place,  I'd  have  burned 
her  house  down,  if  necessary,  to  get  her  out  of 
Manila." 

While  the  transport  was  sailing  out  of  the  bay, 
Captain  Barnes  was  walking  up  and  down  the  deck, 
with  his  hands  clasped  behind  him,  trying  to  think 
that  he  was  not  thinking  of  Mrs.  Gerlison.  That 
had  been  the  state  of  his  mind  for  most  of  a  sleepless 
night.  He  was  dimly  conscious,  however,  that  there 
is  no  fool  like  an  old  fool,  and  no  old  fool  like  an  old 
fool  of  a  sailor.  His  pursuit  of  something  which 
would  kill  all  recollection  of  her  and  make  him  again 
a  sober  being  instead  of  a  sentimentalist,  led  him 
into  many  paths  of  reasoning  natural  to  one  who  had 
long  nurtured  love  without  giving  it  any  expression 
in  practice.  If  she  had  told  him  No,  bluntly;  if  she 
had  said  clearly  that  there  was  no  hope,  it  would 
have  been  better,  he  thought.  He  had  acted  like  a 
clod  in  her  presence,  anyway.  He  had  written  noth- 
ing, said  nothing  to  sympathize  with  her  in  her  grief. 

333 


THE   WAYS  OF   THE   SERVICE 

He  had  left  her  that  night  in  Tondo  under  circum- 
stances unworthy  of  any  man  who  called  himself  a 
gentleman.  She  ought  to  know  the  reason  for  his 
discourtesy.  In  justice  to  himself  he  ought  to  apol- 
ogize. He  sat  down  at  his  desk  to  write  as  shame- 
facedly as  a  stolid  merchant  wipes  a  tear  from  his 
eye  at  the  theatre. 

Once  started,  he  wrote  rapidly,  impulsively,  the 
feelings  of  his  heart,  without  regard  for  the  niceties 
of  composition: 

U.  S.  S.  Terre  Haute, 
October  16,  1899. 

DEAR  MADAM:  That  day  at  Pompeii  was  the 
beginning  of  my  first  real  love,  which  still  lives.  In 
all  the  time  elapsed  since  then  I  have  known  many 
women,  and  all  that  I  have  seen  of  them  has  only 
confirmed  the  opinion  that  you  were  the  one  woman 
to  me.  Such  narrowness  of  vision  is  said  to  be  out 
of  date,  but  that  does  not  make  it  possible  for  mine 
to  be  broadened.  The  place  reserved  for  a  wife  in 
my  heart  was  occupied  by  your  memory.  I  never 
sought  you  out  because  I  would  not  submit  myself 
to  such  temptation  or  misery.  The  memory  was 
better  than  your  presence  with  the  barrier  between 
us.  Besides,  I  had  no  reason  to  believe  that  you 

334 


MRS.   GERLISON'S   OWN   STORY 

cared  for  me.  It  was  unreasonable  that  you  should. 
You  did  not. 

Yet,  when  your  husband  said  he  had  found  you 
with  my  letters  and  my  picture,  I  believed  that  you 
did.  I  realized  a  joy  which  is  unimaginable.  But  I 
told  your  husband  that  he  lied.  I  denied  all,  for 
that  was  right.  Now  I  know  that  I  spoke  the  truth 
— for  I  have  heard  the  gossip  of  the  club  when  it 
was  not  known  that  I  was  listening — I  know  that  the 
letters  were  an  hallucination  of  your  husband.  So, 
no  breath  of  scandal  was  attached  to  your  name. 

But  I  did  not  know  that  you  had  not  kept  the 
letters  when  I  carried  you  in  my  arms  out  of  the  fire. 
I  could  not  help  it:  I  did  then  have  for  you  the  feel- 
ing of  a  lover  for  his  sweetheart  while  I  dammed  the 
tide  of  my  emotion  with  reason  and  subterfuge.  I 
did  not  go  back  with  you,  as  my  heart  prompted, 
because  I  thought  that  it  would  not  be  right;  be- 
cause I  thought  that  it  would  save  you  trouble. 

I  did  not  write  to  you  sympathizing  with  you  on 
the  death  of  your  husband  because  I  thought  him  a 
drunkard  and  a  brute — that  I  must  say,  in  keeping 
with  the  candor  of  this  letter.  Your  love  and  feel- 
ing for  him,  as  you  mourn  his  death,  I  respect. 

You  will  forgive  a  white-haired  sailor  for  his 
bluntness.  Twenty  years'  waiting  behind  him  and 

335 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE  SERVICE 

a  lifetime's  waiting  before  him  ought  to  make  it 
allowable  for  him  to  say  what  he  thinks.  To  the 
end  I  love  you.  Sincerely  yours, 

ARTHUR  BARNES. 

The  next  morning  he  was  sorry  that  he  had  sent 
the  letter.  On  the  evening  of  the  same  day  he  was 
glad  that  he  had.  It  was  too  soon  for  a  reply  when, 
two  weeks  after  Mrs.  Gerlison's  departure,  he  was 
ordered  to  Hong-Kong.  There,  the  cable  bade  him 
to  go  to  Yokohama  as  soon  as  the  cruiser  was 
docked.  Mrs.  Gerlison,  he  had  been  told,  was  at 
Yokohama.  His  regret  that  he  had  written  the  let- 
ter grew  during  the  voyage.  It  was  a  boorish  way 
to  state  his  feelings;  he  ought  to  have  gone  to  her 
in  person,  he  thought. 

After  the  Terre  Haute  had  dropped  anchor  late 
one  afternoon  in  the  harbor,  some  naval  officers  and 
army  officers  on  sick  leave,  who  were  recuperating 
in  Japan,  came  on  board  to  give  him  any  news  they 
had  in  return  for  his.  They  mentioned  that  Mrs. 
Gerlison  was  at  the  hotel.  Moreover,  she  was  no 
longer  in  mourning,  and  seemed  like  herself  again. 
While  they  were  talking,  a  bundle  of  mail  forwarded 
from  Manila  was  brought  to  him.  As  he  glanced 
over  the  letters  he  noticed  one  in  a  feminine  hand, 

336 


MRS.   GERLISON'S  OWN   STORY 

post-marked  "  Yokohama."  He  placed  it  with  the 
address  side  down  by  itself  on  his  desk.  When  his 
visitors  had  gone  he  picked  it  up  and  looked  at  it. 
It  was  thin,  suggesting  a  brief  answer.  He  put  it 
down.  Then  he  began  walking  back  and  forth,  re- 
peating to  himself: 

"  She's  out  of  mourning!  Looking  like  herself 
again ! " 

He  picked  up  the  letter  a  second  time;  again,  laid 
it  down. 

"  No,  no!  I  won't  open  it.  I  haven't  had  a  fair 
chance.  I've  put  all  my  eggs  in  one  basket.  No! 
I  must  see  her  and  talk  to  her — why,  she  doesn't 
know  that  I  can  talk.  Courting  in  that  way — by 
letter — as  if  I  was  not  man  enough  to  go  to  her  in 
person! " 

For  he  realized  at  heart  that  if  the  letter  said  No, 
he  would  not  have  the  courage  to  call  on  her.  With 
her  answer  unopened,  his  more  than  boyish  reason- 
ing told  him  that  the  gate  was  not  entirely  closed. 
Unless  he  could  be  alone  with  her  for  a  few  hours, 
he  knew  that  he  would  become  embarrassed. 

Safe  from  intrusion,  he  was  sure  that  he  could  be 
eloquent.  Again  he  wrote  to  her. 

"  I  shall  be  at  the  hotel  at  nine  in  the  morning  to 
take  you  for  a  ride  to  Pompeii,"  he  said.  "  Will  you 

337 


THE   WAYS   OF   THE   SERVICE 

go?  It  is  all  that  I  shall  ever  ask.  Is  it  too  much 
after  I  have  loved  you  for  twenty  years?  " 

Su  Chee,  his  Chinese  "  boy,"  had  been  wonder- 
ing for  some  time  what  was  troubling  his  master. 
The  next  morning  he  assigned  the  cause.  He  knew 
that  it  was  a  woman. 

"  I  look  better  in  a  uniform,  don't  I,  Chee?  "  he 
asked  impulsively,  as  he  regarded  himself  in  civilian 
garb  in  the  mirror.  "  I'll  have  to  wear  this,  though." 

"  Li!'.  Mlasta  can  do.  All  same  velly  hand- 
some." 

So  he  was.  But  he  thought  that  he  looked  very 
old;  that  there  was  no  reason  in  the  world  why  a 
man  of  his  age  should  have  snow-white  hair. 

He  took  her  letter  ashore  with  him.  If  she  were 
not  there  to  receive  him  he  was  going  to  ride  out 
into  the  country  alone  and  read  it,  and  never  think 
of  her  after  that  day — never! 

As  a  carriage  was  drawn  up  before  the  hotel 
promptly  at  nine,  its  occupant  was  conscious  that 
the  beats  of  his  heart  were  pounding  against  the 
cushion.  Fearfully,  he  looked  up  toward  the 
veranda,  and  there  he  saw  Mrs.  Gerlison,  parasol  in 
hand,  rising  from  a  chair. 

She  was  in  a  summer  gown.  The  color  was  back 
in  her  cheeks.  Thanks  to  Captain  Leeds,  who  had 

338 


MRS.   GERLISON'S   OWN   STORY 

shown  her  the  way  out  of  purgatory,  she  was  herself 
again. 

The  Captain  suddenly  found  himself  as  self-pos- 
sessed as  if  he  were  on  the  bridge  of  his  cruiser. 

"  I  thank  you!  I  thank  you!  "  he  said,  as  he  as- 
sisted her  into  the  carriage. 

They  talked  of  Japan  and  Yokohama  while  they 
were  yet  in  the  city  and  the  suburbs.  Not  until  they 
were  in  the  open  country,  with  no  one  in  sight  ex- 
cept the  laborers  going  about  their  work  in  the  rice- 
fields  did  he  speak  of  what  was  in  his  heart. 

"That  letter,"  he  explained—"!  said  what  I 
thought.  But  I  want  to  say  more.  I  do  not  want 
to  be  judged  by  that  alone." 

"  Didn't  you  get  my  answer?  "  she  asked. 

"  Yes.  I  have  it  with  me.  But  I  didn't  dare  to 
read  it." 

"  Then  you'd  better,  now." 

She  was  looking  at  the  bottom  of  the  carriage, 
which  she  was  poking  with  her  parasol. 

His  coolness  turned  to  fear  while  he  opened  the 
envelope  with  trembling  fingers.  As  he  unfolded 
the  sheet,  he  read: 

"  Yokohama  is  not  far  away.  Wouldn't  you 
rather  tell  me  these  things  in  person?  " 

Below  the  words,  in  the  fold  of  the  paper,  was  a 
339 


dried  flower.  He  knew  that  it  was  the  one  that  he 
had  picked  from  between  the  stone  seats  of  the 
theatre  at  Pompeii  and  given  to  her. 

"  And  I've  kept  the  one  that  you  gave  me  in  re- 
turn," he  replied. 

While  they  were  lunching  in  the  inn  at  Kamakura, 
alone,  except  for  a  little  Japanese  maid  who  went 
and  came,  he  said: 

"  I  like  this  even  better  than  Pompeii." 

"  So  do  I,"  she  replied.  "  Because  we  shall  not 
be  separated  afterward.  And  let  us  forget — we  are 
young  enough  to,  dear — that  there  was  any  stretch 
of  years  between  that  day  and  this." 


I  will  add  that  in  some  of  the  tales  in  which  she 
has  appeared,  Mrs.  Gerlison  was  already  known  by 
a  different  name;  but  to  have  called  her  "  Mrs. 
Barnes  "  would  have  been  telling. 


340 


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